General Wesley Clark has made up his mind. He's joining the Democratic race for President. The official announcement is expected tomorrow.

We like Clark, a lot. We think he is more liberal than Dean on criminal justice issues. We reported on his known positions here.

Daily Kos, who now supports and works for Dean, had this to say about Clark back in April:

"He's solid on national security, well-spoken, presidential, pro-choice, pro-gun, pro-affirmative action, anti-PATRIOT Act, and believes strongly that the government should provide for the less fortunate amongst us."

To get up to speed on Wesley Clark and his views, here are some links:

An Army of One written by Clark in the September 2002 Washington Monthly.

On Clark's background (scroll down until you get to Clark):

A West Point graduate and former Rhodes Scholar, Clark saw combat in the Vietnam War as commander of a mechanized infantry company. He won the Silver Star, the Bronze Star (twice), the Purple Heart and other decorations for his heroism in combat. Clark served as Commander-in-Chief of US Southern Command ("SOUTHCOM") in 1996-97 and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in 1997-2000 (during the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia). He retired from the Army in 2000 and subsequently wrote a book on military-foreign policy entitled Waging Modern War (2001). Clark currently resides in DC, but considers Arkansas to be his home.

Wesley Clark Unplugged, a Salon Interview from March, 2003:

One of the things about the war on terror that I am disturbed about is that we've essentially suspended habeas corpus. Which is something that's only been done once in American history and then only for a very brief period.

When I go back and think about the atmosphere in which the PATRIOT Act was passed, it begs for a reconsideration and review. And it should be done. Law enforcement agencies will always chafe at any restriction whatsoever when they're in the business of trying to get their job done. But in practice we've always balanced the need for law enforcement with our own protection of our constitutional rights and that's a balance that will need to be reviewed.

This just might be our candidate. We're going to learn more and report it all here, so check back often.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered briefs be filed by tomorrow on whether the full court should hear the issue of delaying the recall election (called an en banc hearing.) Reuters reports that one of the Judges on the court asked his fellow judges to rehear the case. Stay tuned.....

Here is the text of the order:

"Before: Thomas, En Banc Coordinator:

The parties, including the intervenor, shall file simultaneous briefs, not to exceed 15 pages, or 7,000 words, setting forth their views on whether or not this case should be reheard en banc. The briefs shall be filed with the Clerk no later than Wednesday, September 17, at 2:00pm P.D.T. The briefs may be filed in letter format and shall be sent to the Court electronically. Issuance of the mandate will be stayed pending further order of this Court."

Fox News has this report.

Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill) will introduce the first bill in the history of the U.S. Senate to provide an affirmative defense to medical marijuana users facing federal pot charges--the Truth in Trials Act. From the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP):

For the first time ever, a federal law recognizing the validity of state medical marijuana laws will be introduced in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) will introduce the Senate version of the Truth in Trials Act in October. Now is the time for you to write to your U.S. senators urging them to be original cosponsors of this medical marijuana legislation.

Please take two minutes to fax your senators a pre-written letter explaining why it is necessary to provide federal protections to patients and caregivers who use and provide medical marijuana in compliance with state laws. Visit here, enter your address, select a letter, and click a button to send it to your senators.

The Truth in Trials Act would create an affirmative defense that could be used against the outrageous federal prosecutions of patients and caregivers acting with the approval of state authorities and in accordance with state medical marijuana laws. The Department of Justice is holding medical marijuana patients in federal prison and actively trying to increase their numbers....It is urgent that your senators hear your outrage!

Health Canada, which supplies legal marijuana to medical users in Canada, is under sharp attack from users of its product:

Some of the first patients to smoke Health Canada's government-approved marijuana say it's "disgusting" and want their money back.

"It's totally unsuitable for human consumption," said Jim Wakeford, 58, an AIDS patient in Gibsons, B.C. "It gave me a slight buzziness for about three to five minutes, and that was it. I got no other effect from it."

Barrie Dalley, a 52-year-old Toronto man who uses marijuana to combat the nausea associated with AIDS, said the Health Canada dope actually made him sick to his stomach.

"I threw up," Dalley said Monday. "It made me nauseous because I had to use so much of it. It was so weak in potency that I really threw up."

President Bush, already suffering from low poll numbers on his handling of Post-War Iraq and the economy suffered another setback today when the Republican-dominated Senate voted to overturn the recent FCC rule changes that would have allowed media congomerates to own even more media outlets.

The Senate approved, 55-40, a resolution that would roll back the Federal Communications Commission rules allowing television networks to own more local stations and permitting conglomerates to own a newspaper, television stations and radio outlets in a single market.

Supporters of the rule changes included Viacom, CBS and NewsCorp (Fox).

Critics, ranging from the National Rifle Association to Consumers Union as well as Democrats and Republicans in Congress, charged that the rules would narrow the choices of viewpoints and cut local news coverage.

Kobe Bryant's lawyers are not yielding in their effort to have his accuser take the stand at his October 9 preliminary hearing. Nor are they letting up in their demand for her medical records.

In a pleading filed yesterday, Kobe's lawyers argue:

"These records are sought prior to the preliminary hearing because it is believed, based on law enforcement reports and other information in the possession of the defense, that the records will contain information important to the court's assessment of the accuser's credibility."

The defense motion to close the preliminary hearing to the public is here.

We think the defendant's right to a fair trial trumps the media's right to access. If the accuser is not going to testify at the preliminary hearing, then her videotaped interview of what happened should be excluded from consideration -- or the hearing should be closed to public access. If the defense can't cross-examine the accuser on the details of the interview, her statements haven't been tested for truth. That is what cross-examination is all about. It has been described as the greatest legal engine ever invented for ferreting out untruths in the courtroom. While the rules of evidence are relaxed at a preliminary hearing, Colorado courts caution against excessive use of hearsay.

The defense says they need her medical records from her prior forced hospitalization (one that resulted from a determination that she was a danger to herself) to establish her lack of credibility and the implausibility of her testimony. That's a tough sell, but technically, they are right. A judge can toss the charges at a preliminary hearing if he or she finds the accuser's testimony to be incredible or implausible as a matter of law. It's more than which person to believe though--it really would have to be that her testimony was simply not believable at all.

We think the motion to close the preliminary hearing is a stronger one. The Constitution says trials are open to the public--not pre-trial proceedings. In a case such as this, where evidence will be introduced that may not be admissible at trial, in light of the massive media interest in reporting and analyzing every nuance of the case, the only way to preserve Kobe's right to a fair trial by an impartial jury is to close the hearing.

We don't know what time this airs in your area today, but it was a lot of fun to do and we think it has a good mix of the legal and social justice issues involved in the Kobe Bryant case. The promo is here.

Don't miss Calpundit Kevin Drumm's Interview With Paul Krugman

AN INTERVIEW WITH PAUL KRUGMAN....You probably think you know Paul Krugman, the liberal New York Times columnist with never a kind word for George Bush. Think again.

Is Krugman merely someone who dislikes Bush and thinks his policies are horribly misguided? Oh no. In fact, in his most recent book, The Great Unraveling, he makes it clear that he thinks it's much, much worse than that.

Great job, Kevin, as always.

Cheers to Chrysler Corporation....if we hadn't just bought a new car last month, we'd go right out and buy one from them now:

Lonnie Erby, freed after 17 years in prison for three rapes that DNA tests recently showed he did not commit, got his old job back Monday at the DaimlerChrysler plant in Fenton.

"He's coming back on night shift," said Louis Johnson, a steward for United Auto Workers Local No. 110. Erby had worked seven years at the plant, and DaimlerChrysler agreed to give him credit for those years, something the car company maker did not have to do, Johnson said. "It's a pretty good thing on Chrysler's side," he said.

Erby, 49, is expected to work in the paint department, the same place he worked before, Johnson said. Dan Bodene, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman, confirmed the hiring and said, "We're glad to have him back in the Chrysler family."

DARPA, the Pentagon's research arm which until recently was under the direction of John Poindexter, and which was responsible for the outrageous Total Information Awareness (TIA) Program-- has had its budget slashed by more than $100 million dollars by the Senate. Noah Shachtman at Wired News has the details of what gets cut.

The Senate bill eliminates $103 million from the Information Awareness Office's $169 million requested budget, wiping out controversial programs like Human Identification at a Distance, Darpa's effort to identify potential suspects by the way they walk.

Other projects have been shelved in the Senate bill, as well. Funds from Darpa helped launch Duke University's Center for Neuroengineering, where Craig Henriquez was one of a team of researchers developing techniques to control mechanical limbs using brain power alone. In a widely cited paper in Nature, Henriquez's colleagues showed how a monkey, implanted with a series of electrodes in its brain, could move a robotic arm -- just by thinking about it.

Some DARPA programs may be worthwhile, such as one to study the effects of sleep deprivation and ways to combat it. But, it looks like the baby will be thrown out with the bath water. In our view, Poindexter tarnished the reputation of the agency, making Congress skeptical of just about everything bearing its name. Good riddance, Admiral.

Did you know that your bank can blacklist you in the name of homeland security? Financial institutions can close accounts and cancel credit cards with little explanation. Not surprisingly, complaints are beginning to stream in.

Banks have long played a role in stopping the flow of money among suspected terrorists, money launderers, and narcotraffickers. But the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, raised the bar. More watch lists have been generated, more institutions have become accountable -- and more consumers may feel the heat.

And while alleged government violations of civil rights under the USA Patriot Act have received steady attention, consumer complaints in the private sector have fallen largely off the radar.

"No one paid attention to the lists because they primarily affected foreign nationals," says Peter Fitzgerald, an expert on government watch lists at Stetson University in Florida. "Now it affects those who do business with those who do business with those who do business with someone suspected of terrorism."

New York Attorney Lynne Stewart lost her bid to suppress wiretaps and videos yesterday. The federal court in New York ruled that the electronic surveillance was proper under FISA.

In July, the Court threw out terrorsim charges against Stewart. She remains charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States making false statements.

More than 85,000 audio recordings of voice calls, faxes and computer transmissions were made by the government during its seven-year investigation as it worked to build a case that Stewart and the three men were conduits for the sheikh to his terrorist followers, and helped him, among other things, to communicate to them his desire for a resumption of terror attacks.

The defendants argued before Koeltl that the government violated the U.S. Constitution and procedures under FISA, 50 U.S.C. § 1801 and following, and that evidence obtained in the surveillance should be not used at trial.

Stewart was not named as a target in the surveillance applications under FISA. As to the 20 videotapes of her, her client Sheikh Abdel Rahman, and an interpreter at the jail, the Judge ruled:

.... Stewart "simply ignores the cases ... that have squarely held that surveillance authorized and conducted in accordance with FISA does not violate the Fourth Amendment rights of those whose communications are intercepted."

Our full Lynne Stewart coverage is here.

Lawsuits over alleged police brutality have been filed by 12 inmates at the Grant County Detention Center in Williamstown, KY and by the jail's former nurse who says she refused to cover up....the charges are despicable. For now, just don't get busted for a minor crime in Kentucky.

Here are some of the allegations, as described in lawsuits and interviews with former inmates and their attorneys:

• One guard is fond of spiking inmates' toothbrushes and deodorant with mace, Christopher Hughes told his lawyer, Hill. Hughes said the same jailer first broke his hand by kicking the metal food-slot flap down over his fingers, then feigned concern, asked to see the inmate's injured hand -- and twisted it hard. Hughes has not sued; Hill said the assault occurred more than a year ago, too distant to file suit.

• Five suits describe jailers ganging up on inmates to administer vicious beatings, one of them on Cox, who owns billboard and crane companies in Falmouth and who was arrested for drunken driving on March 13. After he dropped his belt and shoes on the floor rather than in a bag, Cox and a witness, inmate Kenneth Townsend, said jailers rushed him and administered a beating.