Say hello and welcome to Corrente--a new blog by Leah, Lambert, Tresa and the Farmer, who did such a good job filling in for Atrios this summer while he was in Europe.

Good postings today:

Update: Buzzflash on the Weekly Standard v. Buzzflash and Blumenthal.

Media Horse on Bill O'Reilly's unsucessful attempt to have David Westerfield's criminal defense lawyers sanctioned by the California disciplinary commission. And, in a nutsell, on why the lawyers did nothing wrong.

The Westerfield attorneys were well within ethical boundaries to suggest scenarios consistent with the facts of the case regardless of what they knew, and that is what they did. It was the jury's job to decide how plausible those scenarios were based on the facts, and that is what they did (Westerfield was convicted).

Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul on the death of Torrance Cantwell, the autistic boy who died in church.

Hessiod of Counterspin on Bush's pledge to keep up his warplan and some thoughts on the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Tapped and Calpundit invite us over to Washington Monthly for the Mendacity Index on which President has told the biggest whoppers. No surprise there. It's interactive, and you can do your own rating.

For death penalty defense lawyers, or those who'd like to train to be one, Capital Defense Weekly has a calendar of upcoming training seminars (affectionately called "death camps" by those in the defense bar.) If you are a lawyer in a big firm who is not feeling challenged or stimulated enough, maybe you can get your firm to sponsor you and then take some pro bono cases. There are hundreds of death row inmates in the south without any representation at all for post-convction proceedings.

The Tom Paine blog has details about the planned 2004 Republican Counterconvention in New York.

Cursor has the latest on the State Department's crackdown on leisure trips to Cuba.

Joe Conason says Chris Matthew's Hardball should be renamed Softball. One of these days we're going to pay for a Salon subscription, we just can't bring ourselves to do it yet. At least the day pass ads aren't bad.

Jeff Cooper keeps up his attempt to fill in for vacationing Howard Bashman of How Appealing. He's finding it tougher than he thought. We give him an A for effort, though.

Andrew Northrup of the Poor Man is blogging for Wesley Clark at The Clark Sphere.

Eric at the Hamster says Carol Mosely Braun has picked up some endorsements.

Skippy's still somewhere off the coast of Alaska, but he has blogged in.

That's a wrap from us today--back late tonight.

The appeals court in Nigeria today began hearing the second appeal of Amina Lawal who was sentenced to death by stoning for an extramarital sexual encounter. The penalty was imposed under the Islamic penal code of Sharia, imposed three years ago in the region. It is not clear whether the Nigerian government will intervene.

Amina Lawal has a few more avenues of appeal if this one fails. In this appeal, the Sharia law itself is not being challenged, only its application.

As the grounds for the appeal were read by her lawyer, she stared into space, while her child whimpered before finally falling asleep on her lap. Her uncle was the only family member to accompany her to the court.

....Twelve northern Nigerian states have introduced Sharia punishments for criminal cases in the last three years, and while five people have been sentenced to death by stoning, no sentence has yet been carried out.

The U.S. Military is conducting a hearing to determine whether four U.S. reservists abused Iraqi prisoners at a POW camp in Iraq.

The hearing is a military version of a grand jury proceeding. The hearing officers will decide whether to recommend to senior military officials that a trial be commenced. Their recommendation is not binding.

The four - Spc. Timothy Canjar, 21; Shawna Edmondson, 24; Master Sgt. Lisa Marie Girman, 35, and Staff Sgt. Scott A. McKenzie, 38 - are all from the 320th Military Police Battalion, based in Ashley, Pa.

They are alleged to have punched and kicked several Iraqis, breaking one man's nose, while escorting a busload of prisoners to a POW processing center at Camp Bucca in May in Umm Qasr. The soldiers have said they acted in self-defense.

....The list of allegations, obtained by The Associated Press, included kicking and hitting the prisoners in the groin, face, abdomen, and head, and holding prisoners and encouraging others to kick them.

Murdered priest John Geoghan's conviction for child molesting will be vacated. Under Massachussetts law, if a defendant dies while appealing his conviction, the conviction is voided.

Thus, it will now be erroneous to refer to the late defrocked Priest as a convicted child molester.

Say hello to Summary Opinions - daily source for Liberal Commentary on the Web --thanks to Sideshow for the link.

The Ten Commandments monument has been removed from the court rotunda. Reportedly, it will be moved someplace else within the building.

Tim Francis-Wright of K-Marx the Spot has uncovered some interesting details about the Alabama constitution.

Update: Now the ultra-right is going after Alabama Attorney General and embattled Bush judicial nominee William Pryor:

Protesters hoping to keep a Ten Commandments monument in the state judicial building marched on Atty. Gen. Bill Pryor's office Tuesday, demanding he resign for abiding by a federal court order for the marker's removal.

And Atrios gets it right, as usual:

300 bigots and lunatics protesting around a carved rock, worthy of nonstop coverage. 100,000 people protesting a war, worthy of brief snide commentary.

Dean sprints. Journalist Dave Cullen at Conclusive Evidence has more on the newest Zogby poll results. [Ed: new link inserted]

Markos of Daily Kos is a guest blogger at the official Dean weblog today. Here too.

If momentum counts, Dean may have a lock on the nomination.

Update: Check out the Dean blog today after last night's stunning rally in New York's Bryant Park. Their energy and excitement is palpable. So, for the Dean train, which is the appropriate question: Will it be enough? Or can it be stopped?

The number of suicide attempts at Guantanamo now stands at 32-- another attempt was reported today.

[original news link replaced-Ed.]

The number of suicide attempts at Guantanamo now stands at 32-- another attempt was reported today.

[original news link replaced-Ed.]

The Missouri Supreme Court today vacated the death sentence of Christopher Simmons, holding that the imposition of the death penalty on those who were juveniles at the time of the crime violates the 8th Amendment ban against cruel and unusual punishment. Simmons was 17 at the time of the murder for which he was sentenced to death. His sentence will now become one of life without parole or release, except by an act of the Governor.

From the Court syllabus:

(1) In 1989, the United States Supreme Court declined to bar the execution of offenders who were 16 or 17 years old at the time of their crimes, holding that there was not then a national consensus against such executions. Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989). This Court is not bound by Stanford, however, because the determination of what is cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment must be interpreted in a flexible and dynamic manner. This determination must be considered by current standards, recognizing that society's standards of decency are fluid and evolving.

(2) In the 14 years since Stanford was decided, a national consensus has developed against the execution of juvenile offenders. No state has lowered the age for execution from 18 to 17 or 16, five more states have banned the practice of executing juvenile offenders through legislative action and a sixth state has banned such a practice through a judicial decision. Only six states have executed a juvenile offender in the past 14 years. Opposition to the juvenile death penalty by professional, social and religious organizations, both nationally and internationally, has grown since Stanford. Similar to the reasons set out in Atkins in regard to offenders who are mentally retarded, neither retribution nor deterrence provides an effective rationale for imposing the juvenile death penalty, and the risk of wrongful execution of juveniles is enhanced.

(3) This Court concludes that the United States Supreme Court would hold that the execution of persons for crimes committed when they were under 18 years of age violates the evolving standards of decency and is prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States constitution. This decision applies retroactively to persons whose cases are on collateral review.

You can read the syallbus and full opinion here.

Update: Further information that Druce killed Geoghan at the behest of another inmate, expecting to receive a benefit.

Bump and Update: From the latest Reuters article:

James Pingeon, a lawyer with Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, said a prisoner told him he had tried to warn officers about Druce's plans, but to no avail.

"The inmate told me he heard Druce had planned to stage a hostage taking but that guards dismissed his information," Pingeon said. "We were also told by this inmate that another inmate had paid Druce to attack Geoghan."

**************
Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney has ordered a review of prison policies following the murder of former Priest John Geoghan. This is chilling:

Jim Pingeon, director of litigation for the prisoners' rights group Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, also told the Times another prisoner had tried to warn jailers about the impending attack, but they took no action.

We won't be surprised if it turns out Geoghan was warned as well, and asked for increased protection - and was either ignored or denied it. We hope the prison keeps a record of inmate 'kites' and requests.

Update: Check out Prison Can Be a Living Hell for Pedophiles