"A federal appeals court in California on Monday ordered the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency to stop enforcing rules that prevent businesses from selling hemp products that contain trace amounts of the active ingredient in marijuana. In a 2-1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that banning the sales of consumable hemp products was invalid and unenforceable. "

The opinion is here.

The LA Times reports on the decision in "Still Can't Smoke It, But Court Says You Can Eat It."

A CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll conducted over the weekend shows that people are beginning to realize that Bush lied--and it matters to them.

The number that expects the United States to find weapons of mass destruction... has dropped from 84 percent in late March to 53 percent now.

Almost four in 10 say they believe the Bush administration deliberately misled the public about whether Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, while six in 10 say they do not believe that.

More than half, 53 percent, say it would matter a great deal to them if they became convinced the Bush administration deliberately misled the public on that subject.

The poll of 1,003 adults was taken Friday through Sunday and has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points, larger for subgroups.

On a related topic, a new Amnesty International Report blasts the US for its mistreatment of Iraqi detainees. The human rights organization is demanding that the U.S. provide the detainees with the right to meet with their families and lawyers and to have a judicial review of their detention.

The Leadership Conference on Civil Rights is expanding its campaign against Bush's extremist judicial nominations. The organization is launching Save Our Courts.Org, which will include grassroots training kits, media briefings, and a new web clearinghouse.

As the Supreme Court term comes to an end, there is growing speculation that one or more justices might retire. "LCCR is very concerned about the prospect of a new, extremist nominee to the Supreme Court, in the mold of Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, judges who George W. Bush views as having the ideology and records he most favors. Further, even if there is no Supreme Court vacancy this year, our freedoms are already threatened by extremist federal judicial nominees at the circuit and district court levels," said LCCR Executive Director Wade Henderson.

The website will have:

• Information about how the public can find out more about nominees, as well as get involved in the campaign to Save Our Courts;

• State-by-state listing of events and efforts to educate voters as well as the media;

• Links to other organizations involved in efforts to oppose many of Bush’s judicial nominees

As Nancy Zirkin, LCCR Deputy Director, said,

"For many Americans, the federal judiciary is the first line of defense of our constitutional freedoms. The confirmation of lifetime right wing judges will dramatically reduce the civil rights of millions of Americans."

Now we have People for the American Way and LCCR and Save Our Courts. We urge everyone to participate in action campaigns and let your elected officials in Congress know Bush's picks are unacceptable. Think about the civil liberties you want your children to enjoy--and how many of them will be gone if Bush has his way and packs the Court. Let's stop him --and send him packing instead.

Hundreds of people showed up at the Supreme Court today to protest the death penalty. The National Coalition Against the Death Penalty (NCADP) reports in its press release,

Hundreds gathered in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Monday for a noon rally protesting the 859 executions in the country since death penalty statutes were upheld in 1976.

The rally came in the midst of a 96-hour fast and vigil, which has drawn activists from 16 states, plus Canada, Great Britain and Puerto Rico. The fast and vigil commemorates the anniversary of both the 1972 Furman v. Georgia ruling, striking down capital punishment, and the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia ruling reinstating it.

"I am a prime example that the death penalty system is broken, that it is not fair and that it is not accurate," said Juan Melendez, who spent 17 years, eight months and one day on death row in Florida before being fully exonerated. "The death penalty must be abolished.

Among the arguments against the death penalty:

Abe Bonowitz, organizer of the annual event, said, "We are gathered today to educate the public that the death penalty continues to be arbitrary and capricious. It is a violation of human rights. It is a political tool for politicians to mislead the public about how best to address crime. It is biased and it is a colossal waste of tax dollars."

Howard Dean has collected more than $7 million in donations this quarter, making him the winner among the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination in the second quarter.

John Kerry and John Edwards said they would likely reach $5 million, while Dick Gephardt said he thinks he will come close to $5 million.

Look for the field to thin out after this--Joe Lieberman particularly may be in trouble.

And remember that Bush has raised over 30 million so far, so it's all relative. Then again, the full power of the Internet in campaigning has yet to be seen. We note that this post on Howard Dean's blog received 670 comments.

Tom Squitieri of USA Today says Ralph Nader is seriously considering another White House Run.

Nader says he has moved closer to a repeat run as the Green Party nominee after concluding that Democrats have no one who can defeat President Bush.

"It is quite clear that the Democrats are incapable of defending our country against the Bush marauders,'' Nader, 69, says. ''They have been unwilling to go all out to stop the destructive tax cuts for the wealthy. They have been soft on corporate crime. They have gone along in almost every issue except judicial appointments. They have cowered, surrendered or divided themselves.

Nader has not taken any formal steps such as creating a campaign committee or registering with the Federal Election Commission. However, he is doing what he did in 2000: He has told Green Party officials he is interested in running and is encouraging ''Draft Nader'' movements.

Amnesty International is calling on the U.S. to provide fair treatment to the Iraqi detainees at the Baghdad airport facility, including ending the ban on visits by lawyers and families:

Amnesty International called on the United States today to give hundreds of Iraqis detained since the beginning of the occupation the right to meet families and lawyers and to have a judicial review of their detention. The organization also called on the US to investigate allegations of ill-treatment, torture and death into custody.

"The conditions of detention Iraqis are held under at the Camp Cropper Center at Baghdad International Airport - now a US base - and at Abu Ghraib Prison may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, banned by international law," Amnesty International said.

Detainees arrested by US forces after the conflict have included both criminal and political suspects. Detainees held in Baghdad have invariably reported that they suffered cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment immediately after arrest, being tightly bound with plastic handcuffs and sometimes denied water and access to a toilet in the first night of arrest. Delegates saw numerous ex-detainees with wrists still scarred by the cuffs a month later.

Update: Warblogging has more.

Monday's New York Times reports that Howard Dean, who has raised over $9 million to date for his presidential campaign, has moved into the top tier of contenders. Much of the money was raised on the Internet.

Dr. Dean's aides said he would report raising at least $6.2 million in the three-month period that ends at midnight, on top of $2.6 million he raised over the first three months of the year. Dr. Dean announced the figure 36 hours before the filing period ends, timing the release for a slow-news Sunday afternoon.

What does this mean for the other candidates? Analysts say it looks bad for Joe Lieberman and Dick Gephardt because their poor showing in the fundraising department this quarter will cause the perception (we'd call it a reality) that they are not viable candidates.

As to John Kerry, some analysts think Dean's progress is bad news for Kerry because he and Dean will be competing for the same voters. But, Kerry's campaign says it's not a problem because it will reduce the race to two contenders and it's easier to run against one person than eight.

If their fund-raising projections are accurate, then perhaps it makes it a two-candidate race," Mr. Jordan said. "If so, it makes it clarifying and helpful to us."

A week ago, Dean had raised only $3.2 million. Why the big increase? A large part may be due to the MoveOn internet primary in which Dean made a strong showing.

Joe Trippi, Dean's campaign manager, thinks Dean was helped by his appearance on Meet the Press last week( full transcript here) while many others thought Dean's performance was poor because he didn't know the answers to some questions and changed his position on some issues. If there's one interpretation we are not buying into, it's this one:

"My own theory of it is when Howard Dean says things like, `I don't know the answer to that,' the echo chamber in Washington says: `Oh my God; he doesn't know the answer!' " Mr. Trippi said. "But the guy at home says, `Hey, someone who admits he doesn't know the answer. We haven't seen that before!' "

That may be true in a municipal race, but we doubt anyone wants a President who doesn't have answers.

On the other hand, as we have done before, we congratulate Dr. Dean for his success. He's been determined and dogged on the campaign trail, his staff is fired up and it's clear his heart is in this race. He's not our first choice right now, but that could change, and if he's nominated, he'll have our full support.

Gary Hart is blogging again--as always, his analysis is solid and on point. Don't stop reading him because he's not running for President--he always said he would still find a way to contribute, and he's trying hard to get the hang of blogging.

Also check out Raise Your Hands, by Kevin Thurmond, who set up Hart's blog. Kevin used to have a blog called Getting in the Game, but has started Raise Your Hands as a means to blend political news and activism.

As for what Hart has been up to lately, check out this San Francisco Chronicle article from last week.

We hope that if the Democratic candidate for President is successful next year, whoever he is, that he has the sense to appoint Gary Hart as Secretary of State.

Howard Dean has raised $6 million in the past three months. That sounds like a lot, but consider that Bush raised $27 to $30 million in the same time period, even though he got a late start.

Edwards and Kerry took in $7 million in the first quarter--we don't know yet how much they took during the second quarter.

The highest ranking Republican in the Senate, Bill Frist, said on ABC News' This Week today that he would back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Never happen? Probably not. But, the proposed Amendment was introduced in the House of Representatives last month.

H. J. RES. 56 was introduced on May 21, 2003 by Mrs. MUSGRAVE and has 25 co-sponsors. Last week it was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. subcommittee on the Constitution. Here's the text (available on Thomas, the Federal Legislation Server.)

Article --

`SECTION 1. Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman . Neither this Constitution or the constitution of any State, nor state or federal law, shall be construed to require that marital status or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon unmarried couples or groups.'

We're outing the co-sponsors so you can write them an appropriate letter:

Rep Akin, W. Todd - 6/10/2003 [MO-2]
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. - 6/2/2003 [MD-6]
Rep Burgess, Michael C. - 6/10/2003 [TX-26]
Rep Davis, Jo Ann - 5/21/2003 [VA-1]
Rep DeMint, Jim - 6/10/2003 [SC-4]
Rep Goode, Virgil H., Jr. - 6/2/2003 [VA-5]
Rep Hall, Ralph M. - 5/21/2003 [TX-4]
Rep Isakson, Johnny - 6/24/2003 [GA-6]
Rep Istook, Ernest J., Jr. - 6/10/2003 [OK-5]
Rep Johnson, Sam - 6/10/2003 [TX-3]
Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr. - 6/10/2003 [NC-3]
Rep Kennedy, Mark R. - 6/24/2003 [MN-6]
Rep King, Steve - 6/24/2003 [IA-5]
Rep Lewis, Ron - 6/25/2003 [KY-2]
Rep McIntyre, Mike - 5/21/2003 [NC-7]
Rep Miller, Jeff - 6/25/2003 [FL-1]
Rep Norwood, Charlie - 6/10/2003 [GA-9]
Rep Pence, Mike - 6/10/2003 [IN-6]
Rep Peterson, Collin C. - 5/21/2003 [MN-7]
Rep Pitts, Joseph R. - 6/2/2003 [PA-16]
Rep Ryun, Jim - 6/10/2003 [KS-2]
Rep Souder, Mark E. - 6/24/2003 [IN-3]
Rep Vitter, David - 5/21/2003 [LA-1]
Rep Weldon, Dave - 6/2/2003 [FL-15]
Rep Wilson, Joe - 6/2/2003 [SC-2]

Kentucky law students are tranforming the justice system with their Innocence Project.

Here is some well deserved praise for Ohio Governor Taft who commuted the death sentence of Jerome Campbell last week. Campbell was a juvenile offender who was scheduled for execution this past Friday.

This commutation - the first that Taft has granted, for that matter the first any Ohio governor has granted since 1991 - provides a compelling case for keeping such powers in the hands of the state's chief executive.

....The Ohio Parole Board recommended in May that Taft commute Campbell's sentence. And after studying the facts, Taft correctly concluded that the state should not carry out the execution in view of powerful and troubling questions about the prosecution's conduct. Taft's ruling upholds the central purpose of commutation: Whenever nagging doubt exists, the state should always err on the side of life.

Noah Leavitt argues in Counterpunch that the US should allow foreign law students to represent foreigners on America's Death Row.