Bounty Hunter Hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman and the rest of his crew have been released from a Mexican jail. But, they are not out of trouble.

Mexican authorities have charged the five with "two counts each of unlawful deprivation of someone's liberty, a lesser form of kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit that crime."

For now, the group must stay within Mexico. On Monday, "a judge will decide whether to drop the charges or continue with a trial."

In other Andrew Luster case-related news, police have found Luster's diary in a motel room in Mexico. They say it contained a "payback" list that included a prosecutor, law enforcement officers and some of the rape victims. Luster maintains that he had consensual sex with the women.

Xymphora has made a list 20 things we still don't know about 9/11. Xymphora's conclusion:

This case is remarkable for the fact that we know almost nothing about what happened. The United States has embarked on two dreadful and unsuccessful wars based on the excuse of these attacks, and turned the country into a fascist security state. You would think there might be the slightest effort to answer some of these questions. The Bush Administration is stonewalling on even the most basic documents, and appears to have gotten away with one of the greatest cover-ups yet devised. The most striking thing is that most if not all of these issues could easily be resolved if the right people were forced to answer some rather simple questions.

We think declaring the U.S. a fascist state is a bit of a hyperbole, but there's no question our fundamental liberties have been eroded. We agree that the secrecy in which the Bush Administration has been permitted to operate must end. We need an enlightened citizenry that can properly assess the freedoms that are being taken away, and that can only happen with an unfettered and fully informed press.

We're back. Two days without going on line is a record for us. It wasn't easy, and we don't recommend it. Our experiment of leaving for a weekend without our laptop is one we doubt we'll repeat. On the other hand, Banff, Lake Louise, Emerald Lake and the scenery in the Canadian Rockies is truly breath-taking. The area is enclosed in a national park and far more pristine than the U.S. Rockies. We're going to try to catch up with the news now as we haven't seen a newspaper or watched tv since Friday afternoon. We plan to be caught up and back on track here by Monday morning.

We know we said we'd be gone till Monday, but as soon as we got here to the Canadian Rockies, we saw on the news that former Governor Howard Dean's son had been arrested for burglary--trying to steal liquor along with three of his friends from a country club. Gov. Dean has issued this statement at his weblog.

We think this won't have any effect on Dean's campaign. The same thing happened to Colorado's Governor Owens before his re-election--his teenage son was arrested for burglary-- and it was a non issue--no one brought it up.

Everyone who has a teenager knows they get in trouble for dumb things. We've represented a bunch of them--mostly kids of our friends or kids of our friends' friends--they are not bad kids. They are young and use bad judgment from time to time. They don't fully appreciate consequences until they get caught. But they learn from these experiences and grow into productive adults.

We wish Governor Dean and his family well, and we hope he's not too hard on the kid. That would send the wrong message entirely.

OK, now we're off duty again. A great weekend to all.

Update: 9/14/2006 arrest news here.

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This is not good news. Duane "Dog" Chapman, whom we have written a lot about this past week since he caught Andrew Luster, and his crew are going to be criminally charged in Mexico.

Prosecutor Marco Roberto Juarez said he is charging the five with criminal association and illegal deprivation of liberty, which is like kidnapping without requesting a ransom. Both charges carry a maximum of four years in prison.

The five were being transferred to a state penitentiary and court house in Puerto Vallarta, where the charges will be presented to a judge. They were led out of the prosecutor's office Friday unshaven and looking tired and glum. With their hands shoved in their pockets, they refused to talk to reporters. Chapman, his brother Timothy, his son Leland, reality TV producer Jeff Sells and actor Boris Krutonog were arrested about two hours after they captured Luster near a Puerto Vallarta taco stand where he had just ordered breakfast.

We're not the only ones in Denver to support Chapman. Read this. We know Dog's Denver lawyer and his Hawaii lawyer and we have no doubt they will be helping Dog and the others out immediately.

Fox News is covering the story Saturday night-- we were asked to go on but since we're out of town and way too far from any studios. we had to take a raincheck. If you're watching, we hope you will give him the benefit of the doubt.

The Republicans have a plan to beat the filibuster of Bush judicial nominee Priscilla Owen. The L.A. Weekly article is enlightening in two respects: first, for another example of why Owen should not be moved up to the federal bench. Second, for the sneaky attack plan the Republicans likely will mount to get her in:

It works like this. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist attempts to gradually lower from 60 to 51 the votes needed to end a filibuster. That fails, because it requires 60 votes to change a Senate rule and the Republicans have only 50. Then Vice President Cheney rules on a constitutional point of order that 51 votes can end a filibuster of nominations. The Senate parliamentarian, appointed by Republicans, upholds his ruling. The filibuster blocking Priscilla Owen is ended. (And the road is cleared for the right-wing Supreme Court justices Bush will appoint later in his first term.) It would be quite an end to a Senate procedure in effect since George Washington held office.

Call your senators. Block this plan. Block Owen. TOLL-FREE CONGRESSIONAL SWITCHBOARD: 1-800-839-5276

We are traveling today--Friday-- and won't get back here until late Sunday night. Please check out some of the great blogs and news sites listed on the right--and of course, our most recent posts.

Reuters reports that in Colombia, criminals are using the drug scopolamine to turn crime victims into zombies. Curious that the article doesn't mention that scopolomine has been used by governments against suspected criminals for ages--as a truth serum.

Early in this century physicians began to employ scopolamine, along with morphine and chloroform, to induce a state of "twilight sleep" during childbirth. A constituent of henbane, scopolamine was known to produce sedation and drowsiness, confusion and disorientation, incoordination, and amnesia for events experienced during intoxication. Yet physicians noted that women in twilight sleep answered questions accurately and often volunteered exceedingly candid remarks.

In 1922 it occurred to Robert House, a Dallas, Texas obstetrician, that a similar technique might be employed in the interrogation of suspected criminals, and he arranged to interview under scopolamine two prisoners in the Dallas county jail whose guilt seemed clearly confirmed. Under the drug, both men denied the charges on which they were held; and both, upon trial, were found not guilty. Enthusiastic at this success, House concluded that a patient under the influence of scopolamine "cannot create a lie... and there is no power to think or reason." [14] His experiment and this conclusion attracted wide attention, and the idea of a "truth" drug was thus launched upon the public consciousness.

Conservative, Pro-Bush Hollywood comic Dennis Miller is getting his own gig at Fox News. He will have a regular once-a-week slot on Hannity and Colmes' Friday edition, which may be repeated on Weekend Live with Tony Snow.

Miller seems to be a good fit for the network. He has been one of the few Hollywood types to publicly support President Bush and his foreign policy, prompting Hannity to proclaim him a "hero of conservative America" during an interview last month, though Miller says he doesn't have a particular affinity for that label.

In other broadcast news, NBC's Soledad O'Brien, whom we like a lot, is moving to CNN where she will take over Paula Zahn's slot as co-host of American Morning.

Senator Joe Biden has introduced the Law Enforcement Discipline, Accountability, and Due Process Act of 2003. Co-sponsors are the Chair of the newly formed Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Corrections and Victims' Rights, Senator GRAHAM, and Senator MCCONNELL and Senator BUNNING.

It's a bill to give cops more rights. Biden refers to the intent of the bill as creating a "law enforcement officers' bill of rights." Here is the statement Biden made in Congress yesterday when introducing the bill.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police opposes the bill. Biden says he thinks they can work it out.

It is my view that without a meeting of the minds between police management and union officials on this issue, enactment of a meaningful law enforcement officers' bill of rights will be difficult. It is my hope that the newly-constituted Subcommittee on Crime, Corrections and Victims' Rights, on which I serve as ranking member, will hold a hearing on this measure. That subcommittee is the proper forum in which to debate the merits of our approach to guaranteeing basic procedural safeguards to the men and women of law enforcement.

Biden also touts the bill as one giving greater rights to citizens. We haven't read all the fine print but this makes us skeptical:

Beyond benefiting those on the front lines of local law enforcement, this bill would enhance the ability of our citizens to hold their local police accountable if they do transgress while on the job. (emphasis supplied)

"If" they do transgress? Shouldn't that read "when" they transgress? The bill is S 1277. Congressional record cite is S8125, remarks and text S8127, CR 6/18/03.

First the Rave Act, now this. Biden can't sink any lower in our estimation--he's hit bottom.

Update: We just started reading the bill. Here's part of the preamble:

5) there are serious implications for the public safety of the citizens and residents of the United States which threatens the domestic tranquility of the United States because of a lack of statutory protections to ensure--

(i) the due process and political rights of law enforcement officers;

Accused double agent Katrina Leung has been granted bail by a federal judge.

[Leung] must agree not to leave Los Angeles County, with her movements monitored by a GPS tracking device. She also must provide the judge with a statement of her financial assets.

Leung was indicted last month on charges of illegally obtaining, copying and retaining classified U.S. national defense documents with the purpose of aiding a foreign nation and passing those documents to the Chinese government.

For all of our prior Leung coverage in one place , go here. Atrios has been all over this case as well. He's posting even while in Europe, and his guest bloggers, Leah, Tresy and Lambert are terrific.

Great news from Congress today: The Senate Commerce Committee voted to overturn parts of the FCC Decision allowing the merger of media companies.