By a vote of 400 - 21, the House today prevented the implementation of the media deregulation plan passed by the FCC on June 2.

The FCC voted to allow single companies to own TV stations reaching 45 percent of U.S. households. The House measure would return the cap to 35 percent.

``It's extremely rare to be able to reverse a regulatory decision that gives away the store to the big boys,'' said Rep. David Obey, D-Wis., chief sponsor of the provision to derail the FCC change.

The fight now moves to the Senate, where several lawmakers of both parties want to include a similar provision in their version of the spending bill. Broader rollback efforts also are being considered.

Grass roots efforts work.

ImClone Founder Sam Waksal began his 7 year prison term today.

He is at Schuylkill in Minersville, PA, about 75 miles from Philadelphia. It is a medium security institution with an adjacent minimum security camp. The New York Post reports he'll be at the camp. Waksal's first choice was Eglin, but we hear this won't be too bad. He spoke to reporters before going in, and said he's ready.

TalkLeft has been receiving over 10,000 visitors a day for the past several days. There are 222 people on the site right now. Many are coming from search engines looking for Kobe Bryant coverage. Here is a link to all of our Kobe Bryant coverage in one place.

For those of you not interested in Kobe's case, rest assured, we are continuing our coverage of other political and crime-related stories as well.

Update: July 24, the traffic is decreasing somewhat, although it's still above normal. We've created a link near the top right of TalkLeft where you can access all of our Kobe coverage without having to type the name in the search box. We'll probably also add a Kobe news feed over the weekend so we don't have to keep reporting here on each new item.

[comments now closed]

By a split vote of 10 to 9 along party lines, the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination of controversial Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. The nomination now goes to the whole senate for a vote.

Jules Whitcover writes in the Baltimore Sun that Congress is missing the big picture on the war in Iraq.

In this whole saga of Iraq, congressional and other critics are focusing on the trees -- the individual questions about weapons of mass destruction, about hyped intelligence, about an unproven link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein, even about whether the war is over.

In doing so, they are neglecting to address the forest. That's the much bigger and more significant question of Congress' responsibility to explore the wisdom, not to mention the constitutionality, of engaging in a pre-emptive war as part of a new and overarching American approach for dealing with the world.

....In any event, Congress needs to wake up and recognize that Mr. Bush's war in Iraq may be only the opening chapter in a foreign policy adventure that can have deep and destructive ramifications for America's role in the world and for domestic well-being and progress at home. Who will step back and examine what is being wrought?

In Counterpunch, David Lindorff writes Ashcroft Rebuked: Lynne Stewart's Big Win

Patriot Watch brings us this important action alert by the Lawyers Committee on Human Rights--Ashcroft is attempting to deny asylum to women who are victims of domestic abuse and gender-based persecution.

The Boston Globe has a front page article today on how blogs are shaking the political discourse. Our blogging pal Oliver Willis is front and center. We highly recommend both the article and Oliver's blog.

Think there aren't enough women bloggers? Check out the blogroll at MS. Magazine....thanks to Julia of Sisyphus Shrugged for the link.

BushWars has the latest in "Plame Gate." Here's today's news on an upcoming probe. Mark Kleiman has a string of posts about it. [link via Democratic Veteran] Calpundit has been writing about it for a week. [link via SKBubba]

Hessiod at Counterspin writes about Turkish analysts who say Turkey's relationship with the U.S. may be damaged beyond repair.

Gary of Statutory Construction Zone and Stephanie Tai of Blue Bonnett Blog have written the first law review article about legal weblogs, published in Volume 5, number 1 of the Journal of Appellate Practice and Process (Spring 2003). You can read the article here.

By a vote of 309-118, the House of Representatives voted today to add a provision repealing Patriot Act secret searches, called "sneak and peaks," to a $37.9 million funding bill.

The move would block the Justice Department from using any funds to take advantage of the section of the act that allows it to secretly search the homes of suspects and only inform them later that a warrant had been issued to do so.

Supporters of the change say that violates both the U.S. Constitution and the long-standing common law "knock and announce" principle -- which states the government cannot enter or search private property without first notifying the owner.

"Not only does this provision allow the seizure of personal and business records without notification, but it also opens the door to nationwide search warrants and allowing the CIA and NSA to operate domestically," said the amendment's sponsor, Idaho Republican Rep. C.L. "Butch" Otter.

The provision is Section 213 of the Patriot Act, "Authority for delaying notice of the execution of a warrant."

Section 213 is often referred to as the “sneak and peek” section. It authorizes surreptitious search warrants , seizures upon a showing of “reasonable necessity” and eliminates the requirement of Rule 41, Fed. R. Crim.P. that immediate notification of seized items be provided.

Two British citizens being held at Guantamo Bay and facing military tribunals received assurances from the Bush Administration today that they will not face the death penalty.

The agreement was announced by Lord Goldsmith, Britain's Attorney General.

Goldsmith also reported "significant progress" in other areas, saying in a statement that U.S. officials had agreed to allow the British defendants to choose their own U.S. civilian lawyers, use British lawyers as consultants and speak confidentially with their attorneys. More contact with families and immediate visits by British officials were also promised, as were public trials, he said.

While this sounds like a good beginning to us, the lawyers and families of the two Britons complain that the agreement doesn't go far enough:

Louise Christian, a British lawyer representing Abbasi's mother, said: "It's no good. It's still a military commission. It's still a trial in front of people who are not independent of the U.S. government." She pointed out that British lawyers acting as "consultants" would not necessarily be able to see their clients or even the evidence firsthand.

The New York Times again opposes the Senate confirmation of Judicial Nominee William Pryor in today's editorial, An Extremist Judicial Nominee. Here's the beginning:

The Senate Judiciary Committee could vote as early as today on the nomination of the Alabama attorney general, William Pryor, to a federal appeals court judgeship. Mr. Pryor is among the most extreme of the Bush administration's far-right judicial nominees. If he is confirmed, his rulings on civil rights, abortion, gay rights and the separation of church and state would probably do substantial harm to the rights of all Americans. Senators from both parties should oppose his confirmation.

The troops in Iraq are becoming increasingly frustrated with the Administration and speaking out. They are also discovering the limits placed on their first amendment rights:

Last week, several 3rd Infantry Division soldiers offered pointed criticisms of decisions by their chain of command. One called for the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Afterward, 3rd ID public affairs officers based at Baghdad International Airport barred a Stars and Stripes reporter from interviewing soldiers on the subject. They said there already has been too much negative publicity on the issue.

The U.S. Central Command’s top officer, Gen. John Abizaid, said July 16 at a Pentagon news briefing that some of the soldiers could be punished for their remarks. [link via Buzzflash]