From the Kansas City Star:

One of the year's best country albums celebrates one of country music's longest and darkest traditions: the murder ballad. The album also is tied to one of the most potent political issues in the country -- capital punishment -- so you know it wasn't made in Nashville by commercial country stars. In fact, the album was made by a small label in Chicago and produced by a Welshman, and neither is the least bit worried about a backlash.

"It's all really a cheap one-liner," said Jon Langford, who produced "The Executioner's Last Songs: Vol. 2 and 3" for Bloodshot Records. "You know, death songs against death." A native of Wales and now a resident of Chicago, he began publicly associating himself with the anti-capital punishment issue last year, when Bloodshot released Vol. 1 of "The Executioner's Song," which raised $40,000 for the Illinois Death Penalty Moratorium Project.

In the liner notes to that album, Langford wrote blithely: "Here's a little historical trawling and purging to aid and support the long, civilizing march against the death penalty in this earth's richest land."

....He succeeded in making a great album. Robert Moore has played several "Executioner's" songs on his weekly "Sonic Spectrum" show, broadcast from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturdays on KCUR-FM (89.3).

"It's easily one of the best country albums of the year," Moore said. "It revives a lot of great tunes, and not just the traditional country murder ballads but also some songs like `Gallows Pole,' a ballad that Led Zeppelin covered (on `Led Zeppelin III')."

Attorney General John Ashcroft was denied the ability to seek the death penalty in a trial in Puerto Rico Thursday when the jury acquitted the defendants of all murder charges.

How fitting! Ashcroft picks a case in which he thinks the crime is so bad and the defendants so awful that his intervention is warranted. So while the Puerto Rico Consitution does not allow for the death penalty, Ashcroft says tough, the feds will step in and make you have one. The case is tried to a jury the past few weeks, and after three days of deliberations, the jury finds both defendants not guilty. No conviction, no penalty....no death penalty.

Jurors in a closely watched federal death penalty case in Puerto Rico acquitted the two defendants yesterday, elating many Puerto Ricans who had bitterly opposed the trial and accused the Justice Department of callously betraying their culture and constitution, which outlaws capital punishment.

The jury of seven men and five women cleared the men, Joel Rivera Alejandro and Héctor Óscar Acosta Martínez, of all charges after three days of deliberation. Mr. Alejandro and Mr. Acosta Martínez had been accused of shooting to death and dismembering a grocery store owner in February 1998 after kidnapping him and not receiving the $1 million ransom they demanded. The two men were released from federal custody after the acquittal, while several dozen of the men's relatives wept in the courtroom after the verdicts were read.

This gives us serious concern about Ashcroft and his capital team's ability to assess cases.

The U.S. apparently isn't doing much to protect its Iraqi informers these days. Read this chilling story. Consider that the Administration has just agreed to pay $30 million in reward money to the man who informed on Saddam's two sons. Will he be alive long enough to benefit from it? We wonder how the POW's feel knowing that not only did Bush successfully oppose their receiving any funds at all for their ordeal in Iraq, but the very next day, he gives $30 mil to one Iraqi. There's a moral in here somewhere, we just haven't figured it out yet.

PATRIOTWATCH says it's been a good month for civil liberties and the Administration is on the run.

A survey of recent civil liberties victories includes PATRIOT II receiving body blows as a source tells the L.A. Times that the "original Patriot II proposal is now "dead." Meanwhile, the House voted by an significant majority against a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act that permits secret searches known as "Sneak and Peek" searches (Section 213). (309 House members recently voted in favor of the amendment) And the House continues to hit DOJ...Congressional Quarterly reports that the House is calling on Attorney General John Ashcroft to have a senior Justice Department official "assume responsibility for developing appropriate civil rights safeguards specifically related to the war on terrorism."

There's also setbacks to CAPPS II, TIA and finally, John Poindexter. Patriot Watch has all the details.

We've been busy all day with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers--the annual meeting is in Denver this year and it began last night. It's been fun, informative and hectic so far. We'll save our Kobe comments for tv tonight, but here's what else we've noticed going on:

John Poindexter is resigning from the Pentagon over the terrorism futures fiasco:

The Pentagon official who oversaw the development of a plan for the military to operate a terrorist futures-trading market is resigning under pressure, a senior defense official said today.

John M. Poindexter, a retired rear admiral who was President Ronald Reagan's national security adviser, is stepping down "in the next few weeks," the official said, following disclosure of a proposal that outraged lawmakers and embarrassed senior Pentagon officials. The plan was to create in essence an online betting parlor that would have rewarded investors who forecast terrorist attacks, assassinations and coups.

Still no decision by Arnold as to whether he's running or not running for Governor of California.

Our go-get-'em Attorney General John Ashcroft arrested 240 people today in an alleged Mexican-U.S. drug ring. The code name for the effort: Operation Trifecta.

Joe Lieberman is the latest democratic contender to oppose gay marriage.

The best news of the day: Atrios is back!

The ACLU has announced it will file lawsuits challenging the Patriot Act in Portland, Oregon and Detroit, Michigan. The suit will, among other things, seek to overturn Section 215 of the Patriot Act which grants the FBI greater access to personal and business records under FISA.

Oregon was chosen because Ashcroft has a multi-defendant case pending there that he thinks is solid. One of the defendants is Mike Hawash. Detroit is an area in which the FBI has concentrated its terror war by assigning 50 agents to work with state and local law enforcement agents. The U.S. Attorney has called the war against terror his top priority and has six AUSA's assigned to an anti-terrorism task force.

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Greg at Begging to Differ quotes reports that Carlton Dotson suggested in a jailhouse interview that he shot Baylor basketball player Patrick Dennehy in self-defense. Greg explains why, under Texas law, Dotson may have a valid defense. The source for the jailhouse interview reference is this Dallas Morning News article.

Former Baylor basketball player Carlton Dotson, charged with murder in the shooting death of teammate Patrick Dennehy, said Wednesday that he felt his friend had betrayed him and suggested that he acted in self defense during a confrontation.

“I thought he was my friend but he betrayed me,’’ Mr. Dotson said in a jailhouse interview with The Dallas Morning News. “If someone points a gun at you and shoots and it doesn’t go off, what would you do? If someone is pointing a gun at you and they start putting more bullets into the gun, what would you do?’’

Greg points out that Dotson may also have an insanity defense:

In a different vein, the article also mentions that Dotson claimed to have been "hearing voices" and may have been anticipating "a spiritual war," so it's possible Dotson may have an insanity defense as well.

Like us, Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit, is going to keep his eye on the prison rape legislation, to see if anything substantive comes on it. His MSNBC weblog today contains all the details.

The Kobe Bryant Colorado State Judicial Branch page is up here.

This information is being provided as a service to members of the media to relieve pressure on the courts. The added demands by the media placed upon the court and its personnel due to the intense interest created by the People v. Bryant case have necessitated the development of this reference website location. The court must continue to conduct its daily duties to serve the people of Colorado. Your cooperation in helping preserve the integrity of our daily routines is with minimal interruptions greatly appreciated.

Here is information on Judge Hart, and Judge Ruckriegle one of whom will preside over the trial. Here is information about Judge Gannett who will preside over the preliminary hearing.

Here is the order allowing cameras in the courtroom.

All case documents are here.

We have made our own Kobe case news page which contains links to news articles, media commentary, transcripts, case documents and such. You can access all of TalkLeft's Kobe coverage here. We will only be commenting on Kobe on TalkLeft when something is happening with the case. Otherwise, developments will be kept to the Kobe case news page.

We'd also like to refer Kobe watchers to two other blogs covering Kobe. The Southern California Law Blog and Kobe Watch.

Bump and Update: The POW's lost. Bush won. Here's the opinion.

The Secretary's position that the POWs are unable to recover any portion of their judgment as requested, despite their sacrifice in the service of their country, seems extreme. Yet, he is correct that the Congress and the President have withdrawn TRIA as an available mechanism for the plaintiffs to use to
satisfy their judgment. Prior to the date the plaintiffs in this case obtained their judgment against Iraq and their corresponding ability to attach assets under TRIA, Congress and the President made TRIA inapplicable to Iraq. As a result, defendant is entitled to summary judgment on plaintiffs' TRIA claim.

*************
(from our earlier post, 7/29/03)

The POW's from Gulf War I were awarded $1 billion dollars for their ordeal by a federal judge. Congress passed laws specifically allowing payment of such claims to be made from funds or assets the U.S. has seized from the responsible nation. The U.S. seized $1.9 billion from Iraq. Now the Bush Administration is in court fighting to not have to pay the money to the POWs. It wants to use the money to pay for the rebuilding of Iraq.

Congress' purpose in passing the series of laws that allows such recovery was not just to recompense the POW victims. It was also to send a deterrent message to other nations that they better not violate the Geneva Convention and laws against torture or they will pay dearly for it.

The Adminstration's argument is that Iraq is no longer a terrorist nation since May when it was liberated. They say Saddam and those in power when the injuries to the POWs were caused are no longer in power and the funds don't belong to them now. They also say that an Executive Order passed by Bush in March seized the frozen funds, and that the Patriot Act gives the Government the right to the funds over the POWs.

POW lawyer Stephen Fennell disagrees, and says:

....changing conditions in Iraq should be of no consequence. Under the Geneva Convention, he said, "these types of liabilities run with the states, not the governments."

We hope there is considerable political fallout to Bush from this. We think the POW's should get the money as Congress intended and the Judge decreed.

“It really is unthinkable that in the end that the reconstruction of Iraq should be done on the backs of the POWs who were brutally tortured (there),” said Stephen Fennell, attorney for the 17 former prisoners of war and their families who are trying to recover the nearly $1 billion in damages they were awarded earlier this month. “We need to deter the continued torture of American POWs,” he said.

The judge has issued a restraining order against the Government from using the funds for other purposes while he decides the issue. A ruling was not issued at today's hearing.

New York Times coverage is here, and here's more from MSNBC.

It's semi-official and an official statement will be released later today. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not run for Governor of California if Gray Davis is recalled.

NACDL's annual meeting begins tonight in Denver. One of the issues we will be taking up is whether lawyers should represent detainees at Guantanamo in military tribunals. Here's a summary of the issue and why the Government's announced restrictions on civilian lawyers who represent the detainees pose an ethical dilemma for lawyers.