Free at last....what a travesty that they were in jail at all. The 13 remaining Tulia, Texas defendants are being released on bail Monday. Their ordeal is not over. They still need either to have their convictions overturned or receive pardons.

While everyone else is applauding the three branches of Texas Government for working together to release the 13 on bail, we'd like to take a moment to applaud their several dedicated, pro bono defense counsel that worked years to see their clients released, particularly Jeff Blackburn:

In the last two years, Jeff Blackburn, a solo practitioner in Amarillo, Texas, has been working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund and a handful of other lawyers to get some of the accused off and others, already convicted, out of jail. It's taken more than 2,000 hours and about $39,000 of his own money.

Senior Reason editor Jacob Sullum writes in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle about drug users who are productive, functional members of society . Sullum is also the author of the new book Saying Yes: In Defense of Drug Use ," which he describes as being about "people who lead responsible, productive, fulfilling lives despite their politically incorrect choice of intoxicants."

Retired Nato chief Wesley Clark is considering a presidential run. Here are some of his positions:

He has objected to the use of truth serum on the Guantanamo Bay detainees:

William Webster, a former CIA and FBI director, said he would support the use of "truth" drugs like sodium pentothol to get information from detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, although retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark said the idea was "highly objectionable" and warned along with other officials that it would result in other countries acting similarly toward captured U.S. soldiers....."We've spent the last 60 years building up international law according to what Harry Truman said, that right makes might, not might makes right," Clark said.(The St. Petersburg Times, April 26, 2002)

From a Salon interview with Clark, Wesley Clark Unplugged (3/23/03):

One of the things about the war on terror that I am disturbed about is that we've essentially suspended habeas corpus. Which is something that's only been done once in American history and then only for a very brief period.

When I go back and think about the atmosphere in which the PATRIOT Act was passed, it begs for a reconsideration and review. And it should be done. Law enforcement agencies will always chafe at any restriction whatsoever when they're in the business of trying to get their job done. But in practice we've always balanced the need for law enforcement with our own protection of our constitutional rights and that's a balance that will need to be reviewed.

Daily Kos: "He's solid on national security, well-spoken, presidential, pro-choice, pro-gun, pro-affirmative action, anti-PATRIOT Act, and believes strongly that the government should provide for the less fortunate amongst us."

Here's Clark's Washington Monthly article, An Army of One?

Here's a slice of Clark's background:

A West Point graduate and former Rhodes Scholar, Clark saw combat in the Vietnam War as commander of a mechanized infantry company. He won the Silver Star, the Bronze Star (twice), the Purple Heart and other decorations for his heroism in combat. Clark served as Commander-in-Chief of US Southern Command ("SOUTHCOM") in 1996-97 and NATO Supreme Allied Commander in 1997-2000 (during the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia). He retired from the Army in 2000 and subsequently wrote a book on military-foreign policy entitled Waging Modern War (2001). Clark currently resides in DC, but considers Arkansas to be his home.

For more on Clark, visit the DraftClark website.

Don't count him out, particularly for the VP slot.

After we wrote our post this morning about the article in the Times-Argus asserting that Howard Dean had expanded his support for the death penalty and was aligned with Bush on the issue, his campaign clarified his position on his weblog, Blog for America. You can read his response here. Highlights include:

Governor Dean opposes the death penalty except in very limited circumstances involving extreme and heinous crimes.

...When he became governor in 1991, Howard Dean opposed the death penalty in all cases.

...In 1997, after a number of brutal crimes involving the murder of children, including the abduction, rape and murder of 12-year old Polly Klass in California, Dean spoke publicly about his reconsideration of his position on the death penalty.... After careful deliberation, Dean concluded that the death penalty may be an appropriate punishment in limited circumstances such as the murder of a child or a police officer.

...Finally, as a result of the mass murder that took place on September 11, 2001, he concluded that the death penalty should also be available in cases of terrorists who take human life.

...A Dean administration would administer the death penalty carefully and sparingly, unlike the Bush/Ashcroft Justice Department. Dean would instruct his Attorney General on day one to evaluate the federal death penalty system to ensure that it is applied fairly and reliably. He would also sign into law pending legislation, authored by Senator Leahy, that will strengthen protections against unjust imposition of the death penalty. (emphasis supplied)

Ok, that's a baby step, but a good start. We want to to see the Innocence Protection Act passed badly enough that we'll take it and put Gov. Dean back in our plus column. We do hope Governor Dean remains open to considering a moratorium, pending the outcome of the fairness evaluation he promises to have his Attorney General commence immediately upon taking office. As a society, we should not tolerate even one innocent person being put to death, when a moratorium an option.

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Count us among those who have been skeptical that Howard Dean is really a liberal. We've always been concerned about his support for the death penalty. Now, according to the Times-Argus, Dean is expanding his support for the death penalty and aligning himself closer to Bush on the issue.

In his 11 years as Vermont’s governor, his position on capital punishment “evolved” from staunch opposition to limited support, Dean acknowledges. Now, on the stump for the Democratic nomination for president, Dean has extended his endorsement of a death sentence for those who kill children or police officers to include those who commit terrorist acts.

“As governor, I came to believe that the death penalty would be a just punishment for certain, especially heinous crimes, such as the murder of a child or the murder of a police officer. The events of September 11 convinced me that terrorists also deserve the ultimate punishment,” Dean said in a statement released by his campaign last week.

Compare that to his stance when he first became Governor of Vermont:

In the infancy of his governorship, Dean was an outspoken opponent of the death penalty.

“I don’t support the death penalty for two reasons. One, you might have the wrong guy, and two, the state is like a parent. Parents who smoke cigarettes can’t really tell their children not to smoke and be taken seriously. If a state tells you not to murder people, a state shouldn’t be in the business of taking people’s lives,” he said in 1992.

His weakening began in 1997.

In defending his switch, Dean attributed some of the impetus to a weak judicial system that allowed murderers to go free, and in some cases kill again. “Until life without parole means life without parole, the public is not safe without a death penalty,” Dean said in 1997. “Until we have a judicial system that can adequately protect us, the only thing that will is the death penalty.”

Ron Weich, whom we admire tremendously, is Dean's policy advisor but is utterly unconvincing in his attempt to spin the change of heart by attributing it to the difference in cases facing a Governor and a President--and in this comment:

“But (Dean) would not apply the death penalty in the kind of wanton and reckless manner Attorney General Ashcroft has used.”

What does that mean? That Dean would still seek the death penalty for say, the juvenile sniper suspect, he just wouldn't forum shop for the venue most likely to return the death verdict? Or that Dean would only have sought the death penalty for the older sniper suspect?

Dean needs to be questioned in much more depth on this issue. While we don't hold out much hope that any of the major presidential candidates will oppose the death penalty, we at least want one that will consider a moratorium until reforms are instituted that would reduce the possibility of sending an innocent person to death and eliminate the arbitrariness and racial disparity inherent in the current system.

Dean is no liberal in our book if he can't jump on board. Ron, have another talk with him.

Update: On January 19, 2003, The New York Times reported:

Four of the seven Democrats who have already joined the presidential race or are likely to do so have longstanding views supporting the death penalty and have not changed their positions because of the circumstances in Illinois. Along with Mr. Lieberman, the group includes Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Senator Bob Graham of Florida and Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri. Of the seven, only the Rev. Al Sharpton opposes the death penalty, as he has done for years. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts supports it in the case of convicted terrorists, and Howard Dean, the former governor of Vermont, supports it for murderers of children or police officers.

Update: Governor Dean denies the newspaper's charge that he is aligned with Bush on the death penalty. At the suggestion of Patrick of Electrolite, we edited the title of this post. Fair is fair.

With broad death penalty reform legislation having passed both houses of the Illinois state legislature and virtually no opposition from law enforcment, Governor Rod Blagojevich is likely to sign the reform bill into law. Once passed in Illiniois, it is expected to be a model for similar legislation introduced in other states.

The legislation seeks to reshape every aspect of the legal process, from police lineups to reviews of death penalty cases by the Illinois Supreme Court. It also is viewed as a model for other states seeking to reform their capital punishment systems.

Lineups, both in person and photo arrays, would be ''blind'' and no longer be conducted in groups. Beginning with a pilot project, the cops conducting the lineups would not know who the suspect is, and they would have to tell the witness that the real suspect may not be in the lineup. Also, instead of a group of potential suspects being paraded into a lineup, reviews would be conducted individually, giving a witness time to to study each person.

Another provision would require a hearing on jailhouse informers to verify their credibility at special hearings before they are allowed to testify at trial. And a jailhouse informer could no longer be the only witness in a capital case.
Police would be required to turn over their field notes, allowing defense attorneys an oppportunity to check whether evidence discovered early in the investigation may point toward a suspect's innocence.

There would be greater access to DNA testing, an IQ of 75 would be set for establishing who is mentally retarded and thus ineligible for the death penalty, and the number of crimes subject to the death penalty would be limited.

Also, the state's Supreme Court would no longer be required to find fundamental errors in a case to overturn a death sentence, and police found to have lied at trial would face decertification, a move opposed by police unions.

After a pilot project, police and prosecutors would have two years to put in place the necessary equipment and safeguards to videotape or audiotape virtually every murder confession.

The legislation is a start and does not include all necessary reforms, but those included are most welcome and long overdue. But for former Illinois Governor George Ryan taking the bull by the horns and declaring a moratorium on the death penalty while a Commission he created studied the state's broken death penalty system, ultimately concluding that 85 reforms were necessary, this legislation would not have become a reality this soon.

A big thanks are due to former Governor Ryan and the Illinois Commission of Capital Punishment --you can access their report here.

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A new study shows juries reject the death penalty in most federal cases.

Legal experts say the trend might have a number of explanations, like overreaching by prosecutors and some jurors' growing unease with the death penalty.

Update: We just notice two quotes in the article worth repeating as they come from former federal prosecutors. Jamie Orenstein was one of the prosecutors in the McVeigh and Nichols trials:

Alan Vinegrad, a former United States attorney in Brooklyn, said the recent statistics represented something larger. "It reflects that the tide is turning in this country with regard to attitudes about the death penalty," Mr. Vinegrad said. "There has been so much publicity about wrongfully convicted defendants on death row that people sitting on juries are reluctant to impose the ultimate sanction."

Mr. Orenstein, the former Justice Department official, said federal prosecutors should be more cautious. "It's a dangerous game the Department of Justice is playing here," he said, adding that the failed capital prosecutions were a poor use of resources and damaged prosecutors' credibility.

"We've got to assume," he said, "that if some juries are balking at death in overcharged cases, others are balking at conviction."

Welcome back to Mad Kane's Dubya's Dayly Diary , and her new song, 'Democrats' Anthem: Election 2004':

(to be sung to "Blowin' In The Wind")

How many wars must a President start
Without any reason at all?
How much ill will must a President cause
Until he at last takes the fall?
How many wars must a President launch
Because he is greedy for oil?
The answer my friend is dump Republicans.
The answer is dump Republicans.

Here's the rest. Mad Kane's blog is here.

A California judge has sentenced a 16 year old to life in prison without the possibility of parole in a case in which no one died.

Antonio Nunez was 14 when he was arrested on April 25, 2001, and charged with kidnapping a Santa Ana businessman and shooting at police with an AK-47 semiautomatic weapon during a subsequent chase. No one was injured.

In addition to life without parole, Nunez received four additional life terms and 121 years for being found guilty of six counts of attempted murder of a police officer, assault, evading, street terrorism and committing crimes for the benefit of a street gang.

Defense attorney Joel Garson asked the judge to weigh "the mental maturity" of the youth, whose reading and math skills were purportedly at a second-grade level. Garson also claimed Nunez had a "very minor" past criminal history and a traumatic family life, including witnessing his brother's murder and parents who did not properly supervise him.

This troubles us. We should not give up on these kids. They are poor, disadvantaged and left behind in our society. We need to find a way to give every one of them an equal chance to succeed. We need to break the cycle. Life without parole is not the answer.

Scott Peterson's attorney has filed a motion to rescind the gag order issued earlier this week by the Judge in the Laci Peterson murder case. He also filed a motion seeking to have Gloria Allred, attorney for Peterson's former girlfriend, Amber Frey, held in contempt of court for violating the order.

Allred says she is not covered by the gag order. The order covers witnesses for the proseuction, of which her client undeniably is one, but it does not specifcially include lawyers representing such witnesses.

We're scheduled to debate the issue of the gag order with Gloria tomorrow on Fox News at 2:35 pm EST. If you're in the Denver area today, and have an AM radio nearby, we'll be discussing the role of the media in high-profile cases on KNRC radio with host Jean-Jacques de Mesterton from 2 to 3 pm--1150 am on the dial.

Sen. Jim Jeffords delivered this speech at the National Press Club on June 5, 2003 to commemorate the second anniversary of his decision to leave the Republican Party and become the Senate's only Independent. Check it out, it's a speech we've been waiting to hear a Democrat give, and we've seen almost no media coverage of it. Here are some quotes:

The promises of candidate Bush, who pledged to bring a new tone to Washington and packaged himself as a compassionate conservative, are unmet. On issue after issue the Bush administration is not what it claims to be. Since coming into office, the president has dragged the Republican Party into short-sighted positions that maximize short-term gain while neglecting the long-term needs of families and the nation.

President Bush hasn't just over-reached, he has set a new standard for extreme partisan politics that on many occasions has been supported by the Republican-controlled Congress.

In place of thoughtful policy we now have superficial and cynical sound-bites. Instead of confronting pressing national problems, our president lands airplanes while Rome burns.

Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism Bernard Weiner, Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers
June 9, 2003

If my email is any indication, a goodly number of folks wonder if they're living in America in 2003 or Germany in 1933.

All this emphasis on nationalism, the militarization of society, identifying The Leader as the nation, a constant state of fear and anxiety heightened by the authorities, repressive laws that shred constitutional guarantees of due process, wars of aggression launched on weaker nations, the desire to assume global hegemony, the merging of corporate and governmental interests, vast mass-media propaganda campaigns, a populace that tends to believe the slogans and lies it's fed without asking too many questions, a timid opposition that barely contests the administration's reckless adventurism abroad and police-state policies at home, etc. etc.

The parallels are not exact, of course; America in 2003 and Germany seventy ears earlier are not the same, and Bush certainly is not Adolf Hitler. But there are enough disquieting similarities in the two periods at least to see what we can learn -- cautionary tales, as it were -- and then figure out what to do with our knowledge. ...

A good share of what we know about how this happened in Germany usually comes to us many years later from post-facto books, looking backward to the horror. There are very few examples of accounts written from the inside at the very time the events were unfolding.

One such book is " Defying Hitler," by the noted German journalist/author Sebastian Haffner. ... "Defying Hitler" is a brilliantly written social document, begun (and ended abruptly) in 1939; even though it fills in the reader on German history from the First World War on, its major focus is on the year 1933, when, as Hitler assumed power, Haffner was a 25-year-old law student, in-training to join the German courts as a junior administrator.