More and more editorials are blasting Ashcroft for his July 28 Sentencing Memorandum directing prosecutors to keep tabs on judges who depart downward from the federal sentencing guidelines.

Some of the more recent:

The Asheville Citizen Times calls Ashcroft's memo a a blatant abuse of power.

The Berkshire Eagle says Ashcroft clearly has the 'lock 'em up' mentality and we should be listening to Justice Kennedy's criticism of the sentencing system.

The Lebanon, PA Daily News wonders if Ashcroft slept through his law school classes.

For a comprehensive look at Ashcroft's assault on the federal courts, check out Mark Allenbaugh's commentary at Findlaw.

Patrice Lumumba Ford is one of the defendants in the Portland 7 alleged terrorism case (Mike Hawash is another.) Ashcroft is seeking to prevent New York lawyer Stanley Cohen from representing him-- based on a secret affidavit that claims Cohen has a conflict due to his prior representation of Sheik Mohamed Abdirahman Kariye, the prayer leader at the Islamic Center of Portland, who is also known as Masjed As-Saber.

The defense has filed a motion for access to the sealed affidavit, demanding to know what evidence there is to link Kariye to the alleged terror cell plot. A hearing will be held August 22 on the Government's motion to bar Cohen from the case.

The government's motion claims Kariye provided money and other support to the local Muslims who allegedly tried to travel to Afghanistan to fight against the allied forces that overthrew the country's Taliban regime. Kariye also helped start a Muslim charity in the United States the Global Relief Foundation that the government accuses of funding terrorism.

Despite these allegations, the government has not charged Kariye with any terrorism-related crimes.

Our view: How can Cohen respond to the allegations without knowing what facts or mistruths the Government is relying upon? Lawyers should not be barred from representation based on secret evidence.

14 year old Lionel Tate cries as Judge imposes life sentence

Lionel Tate is the youngest person in the U.S. to be sentenced to life in prison. At 12, he killed a 6 year old playmate while wrestling with her.

Lionel's mother turned down a deal for him to get three years in a juvenile facility, thinking he would be acquitted. He was tried and convicted as an adult, and sentenced to life. He is now 16.

Lionel lost his appeal. Jeb Bush turned down his first clemency petition because he had had behavioral problems in jail. His second clemency petition is now under consideration. The Warden at his prison supports it and says he has made marked improvements. So do his lawyers:

''We're proud as can be of someone who was in a terrible situation,'' said Fort Lauderdale attorney Richard Rosenbaum, noting that the teenager with a reputation for ''a big mouth'' and ''talking back'' is now earning A's and B's on his report card and wants to pursue a career in the culinary arts.

Lionel has a lot of support. His backers have brought his cause to the Pope and the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The NAACP is supporting him. So is a police group in East Orange, NJ.

In the end, Lionel's future will be decided by one man--Jeb Bush--with advice from a three member Board of Executive Clemency. Bush has until September to decide whether Lionel gets a clemency hearing.

Here's more about Lionel and his case.

Westchester County, New York has been ordered to pay $2,500.00 to a pedophile clown for violating his first amendment rights by blocking him from performing in a park at the Playland Amusement Park in Rye.

We reported the details of the case back in December, here.

Don't miss Take Back the Media's flash animation "Army of One". They are trying to get it on TV. That takes money, so go over and watch and then donate. Great soundtrack too. Spread the word.

We received this email as to Ashcroft's Victory Act Tour:

Ashcroft's 10-day, 20-state tour to rally support for the PATRIOT Act and the draft VICTORY Act begins August 19 in Washington. Detroit, Philadelphia, Milwaukee and Salt Lake City have been mentioned as planned stops.

Here's some of what Ashcroft will be pushing for, reported by Congressional Quarterly (subscription only) on August 7:

Senate Republicans are drafting a bill aimed at cracking down on drug trafficking and money laundering that would give the Justice Department broad new investigative tools to use in the war on terrorism. The measure is being written by Judiciary Chairman Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah, and several other Republicans on the committee. Hatch is expected to introduce the bill next month.

....A draft of the bill contains provisions that would allow law enforcement officers to seek roving warrants to monitor cellular telephone and other wireless communications. It also would allow the attorney general to issue administrative subpoenas in the course of terrorism investigations.

The bill also establishes a new category of crime--"narcoterrorism."

The draft bill would establish a new category of crime, "narco-terrorism," to punish those who manufacture or distribute controlled substances with the knowledge or intent that the activity would benefit a foreign terrorist organization.

How's this for fairness?

Under the draft bill, the government would not be required to prove that a defendant knew he or she was aiding such an organization.

The bill would count as illegal money laundering money transfers into or out of the United States that are made to evade income taxes. It also would boost civil and criminal penalties for financing "narco-terrorist" and other terrorist activities.

Is all this sounding familiar? It should. It's just a re-dressing and re-naming of Patriot Act II.

Jameel Jaffer, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the new draft bill "would provide the FBI and other government agencies with more power, but it would not make us more secure. "Some of [its] provisions were originally proposed in the draft Patriot Act II. Congress needs to be wary of attempts to enact Patriot II, or parts of it, in other guises."

Actually, Ashcroft's tactic of passing Patriot Act II piece meal began back in May-see here.

Don't miss the Friday edition of the Guardian and the article Punishment Without Trial:

Hundreds of Iraqis civilians are being held in makeshift jails run by US troops - many without being charged or even questioned. And in these prisons are children whose parents have no way of locating them. Jonathan Steele reveals the grim reality of coalition justice in Baghdad.

According to Steele, the problems generate from conditions such as these:

...arrests followed by incompetent interrogation, or none at all; the lack of an efficient trial-or-release system; shocking prison conditions; constant buck-passing; and sloppy paperwork by the coalition authorities. The result is that in almost every case families take weeks or months to find out where their loved ones are being detained.

Steele provides plenty of examples of kids taken and held for unduly long periods of time. Here's one:

MSNBC has scaled back plans for a Jesse Ventura talk show. Originally planned as a weeknight talk show, it will now be a once a week show on Saturday night, which is the least-watched tv night of the week.

Other MSNBC news: Dan Abrams will keep his one hour 9pm EST weeknight show. We're glad for Dan.

Ok, so it's not terror related. We've heard a few people on tv talk about whether computer glitches could have caused it. Could the blaster worm have gotten into the power plant computers?

We wouldn't count anything out. In November, 2002, there was a terror alert at the power plant on the Canadian side of Niagra Falls. We remember, because we were there at a law group meeting and we were all talking about it as we drove past the plant on the way to the Falls.

Also, around that time, it was reported that Colin Powell was going to provide Canada with a list of 22 potential terrorist targets in Canada, and power plants were on them. Canada responded by providing armed security at the plants.

Broadcast News (BN) November 15, 2002 Friday (available on Lexis):

Canada's nuclear power plants are now under armed guard against terrorist attack. Natural Resources Minister Herb Dhaliwal confirms the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has issued instructions to have an armed presence.

Dhaliwal wants them to come up with permanent guidelines on an armed response and to have armed personnel in the area where the nuclear plants exist. An audiotaped message, attributed to Osama bin Laden, warns of terrorist attacks on Canada and other western nations.

Then there was this, in the Canadian Press Newswire November 7, 2002 (and many other newspapers, available on Lexis):

The chief executive of a major Canadian energy and utilities company says foreign spies visited one of its natural gas processing plants just two months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

'I can tell you that we are aware of agents of foreign powers that have been touring our facilities,'' Atco Group's Nancy Southern told a conference on counter-terrorism Thursday.

''And I can tell you as a result we have increased our threat assessments,
our security, and conducted significantly more security audits in all of our facilities.''

The Canadian angle and the Internet worm are likely irrelevant...but we thought we'd mention it, just in case.

The Rocky Mountain News has a full page article today on defense lawyers balking at the rules the Administration has proposed for military tribunals. A few weeks ago, when the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers ( NACDL) was in Denver for its annual meeting, we were one of five NACDL leaders who went to the Rocky Mountain News offices to meet with its Editorial Board. The paper recorded the meeting and now has printed much of the transcript, along with photos (only our's appears in the online version, but the print version has a picture of outgoing NACDL President Larry Goldman as well.)

We're thrilled to see the issue get such detailed coverage. We hope you'll give it a read. Major thanks to Vincent Carroll, Editor of the Rocky Mountain News editorial pages, for allowing NACDL to express its opinion and for publishing our views. And to NACDL Media Affairs Director Dan Dodson who arranged the meeting.

Another detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba has attempted suicide.

Total number of reported suicide attempts to date at Camp X-Ray: 30.

Some of the prisoners have been held for more than a year and a half without charges, access to lawyers or indications of whether or when they may be freed.

U.S. authorities are holding some 660 prisoners from 42 countries at Guantanamo on suspicion of links to the al-Qaida terrorist network or Afghanistan's fallen Taliban regime.

Lots of computers are getting the worm. In fact, both the LA Times and the Chicago Tribune websites are down as we write this, and have "we'll be back soon" type notices on their sites. It's probably due to the worm. If it hits you next, here's how to deworm your computer.

[LA Times link corrected]