There has not been an execution in Australia for more than 35 years. That may change, as public outrage over terrorist acts threatens to resurrect the issue. Prime Minister John Howard has called for public debate on the death penalty, believing the issue could impact this year's state elections.

Platforms of the major political parties in Australia oppose the death penalty, which was abolished in Australia in 1985. Australia's Labor Party officials are not pleased with Howard's suggestion:

A caucus of Labor lawmakers resolved Tuesday to form a sub-committee to work on the matter. The party's spokesman on legal affairs, Robert McClelland, called Howard "irresponsible" for suggesting capital punishment was a legitimate topic for debate.

"It's the responsibility of leaders not to exploit an understandable popular sentiment - the desire for revenge in times of heinous crimes," he told the caucus.

Critics of Howard's debate suggestion also point out:

Any move to reintroduce capital punishment would be a matter for the parliaments in the country's six states and two territories -- all controlled by Labor -- not Howard's federal government.

There's several new articles in the Kobe Bryant case-- we've accumulated them on our separate Kobe Bryant Case Coverage page.

It strikes us as curious that members of the public believe they have the right to have their opinions heard by the Judge in the case. Letters are pouring into him. It strenghtens our view that televising trials leads the public to believe they are participants in the case --as if the trial is some sort of reality tv programming on which they get to vote.

It's doubtful the judge even reads the letters. They are part of the file, and many will be picked up on by the media which will choose to print the most titillating of them. The letters are amusing, but that's all, unless Kobe's lawyers can make a case based on the volume or slant of the letters that the prejudicial pre-trial publicity is so great and peoples' minds are so set that he cannot get a fair trial anywhere at this time, warranting a long abatement of the trial. That's a real longshot, at least for now.

Ezra Klein brings us Flood the Zone Fridays--it's a very, very clever idea to get the Anti-Bush message across to the media Bush is counting on for favorable support. Go sign up. [link via Matt Yglesias.]

Who knew? George Washington Law Professor Jonathan Turley explains:

...The Pentagon is hard at work participating in a number of movies that will deliver its message on the legitimacy of the war and its own conduct in Iraq.

Examples: Planned movies on Private Jessica Lynch.

Most Americans are unaware that the U.S. military routinely reviews scripts that might require Defense Department cooperation and that the Pentagon compels changes for television and movies to convey the government's message.

Apparently, this is not a new phenomenon.

Although rarely publicly acknowledged, major films have been rewritten to remove negative but historically accurate facts to present a more positive military image. This work is done by a team of military reviewers "embedded" in Hollywood. Most recently, the military quietly worked on a script for the television program "JAG" to present its controversial military tribunals as something of an ACLU lawyer's dream.

Why does Hollywood allow this?

Though the Constitution generally bars the government from preventing or punishing free speech, it is less clear about the degree to which the government may assist speech that it favors. To that end, the military uses access to military units, bases and even stock military footage and open areas such as the Presidio to force prepublication review and script changes. This access is vital for many films on military subjects, so producers yield to the demands

Turley calls upon Congress for the fix:

Oral arguments will be held Friday in the Fox News Channel's lawsuit against Al Franken.

Pre-sales of Franken's books have increased dramatically since news broke of the lawsuit. Publisher Penguin books has moved the publication date up to the end of this week from its original September 22 release date--and ordered 40,000 more copies.

In related news, Al Franken has sent an apology letter to John Ashcroft--for real. And actor Paul Newman disses the lawsuit.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has responded to an inquiry by Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) advising that it will not sue small music downloaders.

Coleman was the late Paul Wellstone's opponent in the November, 2002 elections. He is also a friend of Bush. He now serves as Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs' Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Coleman intends to hold hearings on the RIAA's plans to sue music downloaders. He thinks the industry is overreaching, and laws against downloaders are too strict. The issue is close to home for Sen. Coleman: He has downloaded music from Napster. A former prosecutor, he also once was a roadie for a band.

Good for Coleman for taking this on.

For the first time, the U.S. is claiming that Saudi Arabian charities and the Saudi Government have funneled millions of dollars to a company allegedly associated with members of Al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement. The company is BMI, a New Jersey investment firm.

The allegation is contained in an affidavit by David Kane of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, filed in a federal case in Northern Virginia

Kane's affidavit was filed in support of the detention of Soliman S. Biheiri, who was indicted two weeks ago on charges of making false statements to obtain U.S. residency and other immigration charges. Before that, he was secretly held for more than a month as a material witness in the Justice Department's investigation of terrorist financing, according to knowledgeable sources.

....Biheiri founded BMI Inc., an investment firm that adhered to Islamic principles, in Secaucus, N.J., in 1986. One of BMI's chief investors was Saudi businessman Yasin Qadi, who the United States and United Nations named a "specially designated global terrorist" in October 2001 for his alleged support of both al Qaeda and the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas. Another major BMI investor, according to court documents, was Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook.

Here's how the investigation began:

In March 2002, federal agents raided about 100 companies operating in a single office at 555 Grove St. in Herndon and took hundreds of boxes of documents. No charges have been brought so far against any companies or individuals as a result of that action and the ensuing investigation.

The sprawling probe, active on four continents, is the largest current U.S. investigation into terrorist financing, U.S. officials said.

Lots of people have been inquiring as to Attorney General John Ashscroft's schedule for his Patriot and Victory Act Tour. Here is this week's schedule, along with location details and rules for attending:

Wednesday: Philadelphia and Cleveland
Thursday: Detroit and Des Moines

Looks like we all get a break Friday. No appearances.

[Thanks to Atrios for the link].

Update: TomPaine.Com's blog rips the Tour in Kiss My Act:

Kiss My Act: Somebody might want to revise Attorney General John Ashcroft's talking points before his next public statement. He's on a cross-country mission to sell the USA Patriot Act to the American people, and today said, in defense of the law, that "if we knew then what we know now, we would have passed the Patriot Act six months before Sept. 11 rather than six weeks after the attacks." Right. And maybe we would also have listened to alarms sounded by FBI field agents in Minnesota. And beefed up security at our airports. Good news for civil liberties advocates: If Ashcroft is on the defensive, we know the controversy over this legislation is only spreading.

Ashcroft has now delivered his first speech aimed at garnering public support for the Patriot and Victory Acts. But he's not stopping there. He announced today a new Government website dedicated to the "success" of the Government in the Terror War.

Democratic Presidential hopefuls Howard Dean and John Edwards were not impressed:

Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said "(Ashcroft) must not be allowed to compromise our freedoms any further" and called for a rollback of "anti-terror tactics that go far beyond protecting our country and erode the rights of average Americans." North Carolina Sen. John Edwards said Ashcroft's Justice Department "has rolled over our rights for the last two years."

Then there was this piece of dissemination today:

Justice Department spokeswoman Barbara Comstock -- wearing a white t-shirt that said "Freedom" in red letters across the front -- dismissed criticism of the Patriot Act as the work of "a small, vocal minority" spreading misinformation.

Talk about just desserts....A Missouri prison guard has been ordered to scrub toilets during his 15 day jail sentence that was imposed following his conviction for peeing on inmates.

Talk about a lame defense:

Hastings admitted during the trial that he knew prisoners were in the room when he and another jailer urinated through a roof grate.

A DNA expert testified that urine samples taken from the jail roof could be linked to Hastings. But defense attorneys contended there was no proof that Hastings' urine - and not the other jailer's - hit the inmates.

Greene County, Missouri has paid the four inmates $100,000.

The Texas Court of Appeals has stopped Wednesday's scheduled execution of Mark Robertson. Kudos to defense lawyer Randy Schaffer of Houston who obtained the stay.

The trial judge had refused to allow the jury to consider mitigating evidence concerning Robertson's childhood. Because the case had already been rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court, Shaffer looked for a way to get it back to the Texas Court of Appeals, and he succeeded:

Last Friday, the Supreme Court refused to overturn the appeals court decision and Schaffer returned to the state court with "the same issue in a different context," he said

In Robertson's case, appeals attorneys have argued his alcoholic father or childhood abuse or his own drug abuse also should have been considered by a jury as a special circumstance, also referred to as mitigating evidence.

If a jury finds there is such evidence, a life sentence is imposed. "I asked the court to stay the execution and permit me to argue the case when it reconvenes in September," Schaffer said.

Texecutions carried out this year: 20
Two more are scheduled for September.
A record of 40 was set in 2000.
There were 33 in 2002.

Reuters says an unnamed U.S. official speculates the militant group Ansar al-Islam is behind the U.N. headquarters bombing at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad. The group previously has been named as a suspect in the Jordanian embassy bombing. The death toll is currently at 17, according to CNN. Lots of pictures available here as well.

Reuters reports that Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Brazilian who heads the U.N. mission in Iraq, has been killed in the attack. He was alive when first taken out.