Excellent news on the death penalty front out of Illinois:

State lawmakers adopted a measure Friday to make Illinois' death penalty system fairer, virtually assuring a sweeping overhaul of the capital punishment process will go to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The House bill covers many of the recommendations made by a commission appointed by then-Gov. George Ryan, who suspended all executions in 2000 and cleared out death row of all 167 inmates at the end of his term earlier this year.

The measure makes it easier for murder defendants to get evidence that could help them in their trials, allows judges to second-guess jury death sentences and lets the Supreme Court set aside sentences it deems unjust.

It also sets up a pilot program for police to videotape interrogations and prohibits executing the mentally retarded.

The bill has now gone through both state houses. The amendments added by the House "are all but assured of passing" and the Governor is for it.

A little off-topic perhaps, but very interesting. From the LA Times, which requires free registration: Rorschach Tested

....a chorus of critics has emerged in recent years, saying that much of the test is mumbo jumbo, better relegated to a medical museum along with radioactive tonics and bloodletting fleams. They say that the test has potential to do harm by misdirecting therapy or by influencing decisions in high-stakes situations such as custody disputes.

"If psychologists used tea leaves instead of the Rorschach, we'd probably be better off, because then, at least, no one else would take the results seriously," says James Wood, associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at El Paso.

....Rorschach defenders are fighting back fiercely. They counter that critics are unfairly scapegoating the test with a tenacity that borders on the fanatical. They say the test, which homes in on people's differing reactions to ambiguous images, is far more solid than detractors claim, and that time after time, Wood, Garb and Lilienfeld have failed to acknowledge the evidence in support of it.

We've always wanted to know how the test is scored, and here it is:

We like this guy already.

Military trials of terrorism suspects should be public to ensure that the world sees the proceedings as fair, said the Air Force officer appointed as chief defense lawyer for the tribunals.

Col. Will Gunn said Thursday that he would push for any such trials to be as open as possible. "I see that as in the best interest of the nation as a whole," Gunn told reporters at the Pentagon. "We will be judged from the world community on whether or not the process was fair and just."

Salam Pax returned to his blog recently. UPI has this report:

Salam Pax is back. The anonymous Iraqi whose cyber-reporting of life in Baghdad during the war made him an Internet star, is back in business, issuing a grim warning after a roving tour through Iraq's postwar chaos: "I came back from the trip seriously worrying that we might become an Iran clone."

"If anyone went to the streets now and decided to hold an election we will end up with something that is scarier than (Ayatollah) Khomeini's Iran," Salam Pax writes, using the nom-de-plume that became famous during the war. It means peace-peace, in Arabic and Latin.

An appellate court in Colorado has ruled that Neglect Laws Don't Apply to Fetus:

"There are no remedies in the (Colorado Children's) Code appropriate to an unborn child or designed to restrict the conduct of a pregnant woman," the ruling said. The appeals court said a contempt charge is the only remedy Colorado courts have to punish pregnant women who ignore a court order to stop taking illegal drugs or engaging in other harmful activity.

In ruling, the Colorado court examined the opinions of state courts around the country and found a general consensus that there is a lack of jurisdiction over the fetus in dependency and neglect proceedings.

The appeals court said a contempt charge is the only remedy Colorado courts have to punish pregnant women who ignore a court order to stop taking illegal drugs or engaging in other harmful activity.

We'll put up the link to the opinion when we find it.

Now that the chief prosecutor and chief defense counsel for any upcoming military tribunal trials are set, the issue turns to staffing the offices with capable prosecutors and defense counsel. While there is no shortage of volunteers for the prosecution side, not a single civilian lawyer has applied to be a defense lawyer.

No, it's not because defense lawyers don't wan't to represent these particular individuals.

Don Rehkopf, a Rochester lawyer who is co-chairman of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers' military law committee, said in a telephone interview that the military rules were so stacked against the defense that few civilian lawyers would want to apply.

"It would be unethical for any attorney to agree to the conditions they've set," Mr. Rehkopf said. "You have to agree to waive the attorney-client privilege so that the government can monitor your conversations. It's a total farce."

See our post from yesterday about the conditions placed on civilian defense lawyers representing defendants in military tribunal proceedings, and the ethical problems they pose.

Texas has passed one of the country's "most sweeping" abortion counseling laws. Among its many objectionable provisions is the requirement that doctors "warn women that abortion might lead to breast cancer."

That link, however, does not exist, according to the American Cancer Society and federal government researchers, and critics say the law is a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate, frighten and shame women who are seeking an abortion. Proponents say they are merely trying to give women as much information as possible, and argue that research into the alleged link between abortion and breast cancer remains inconclusive.

After years of failed attempts to outlaw abortion outright, social conservatives across the nation are now finding success in limiting abortions by requiring so-called counseling of patients. Among the most aggressive tactics is the attempt to link abortion with breast cancer, a move that many conservative organizations have undertaken, but rarely with the success they have found in Texas.

The bill has passed both houses in Texas and the Governor has said he will sign it into law.

The BBC is reporting that a Pakistani man, formerly held as a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay and recently freed, has said he was given injections to make him talk.

Shah Mohammad was released earlier this month and is now back in Pakistan after months in custody, suspected of links with Islamic militants.

Mr. Shah alleged that the Americans had given him injections and tablets prior to interrogations. "They used to tell me I was mad," the 23-year-old told the BBC in his native village in Dir district near the Afghan border. "I was given injections at least four or five times as well as different tablets. I don't know what they were meant for."

Mr. Shaw, who was not in the military, but was working as a salaried bread baker for the Taliban, had this to say about his transport to Guantanamo and the conditions there:

Before boarding the plane our hands and feet were tied and duct tape was stuck across our mouths, blindfolds were placed on our eyes and devices were shoved into our ears. "Our hair and beards were shaved off," he said.

Mr Shah said conditions at Guantanamo were appalling to begin with. "We were not allowed to pray and little food was served. But later things improved," he said.

[link via balasubramania]

From Fox News :

Scott Peterson's defense team says they have found the mystery woman who can provide information about the real killers of the California murder suspect's 8-months-pregnant wife, Laci, and their unborn child.

Now, the defense team says they are only days – if not hours – from locating the people who they believe are responsible for the killing. "We would not go out on such a limb if we weren't confident we could deliver,” a defense source told Fox News. “We believe in a matter of days, the real killer may be found and police investigators will have egg on their face."

So who did it? A satanic cult, originally questioned by police and let go.

... Peterson's lawyers contend that the real killers are still out there. They say the murderers are linked to a Satanic cult in Central Valley, Calif., and to a suspicious brown van that was spotted near the Petersons’ home on the day Laci disappeared. Sources say one of the people in the van, which was carrying men and women, had a "666" devil-worshipping tattoo.

In addition to the mystery woman, the defense team sources say they have hard evidence to back up her claims. They say that all the information together proves someone other than Scott committed the crime. Police were apparently told about this woman early in the investigation, the sources say, but authorities never interviewed her because they believed the Satanic cult theory was "bogus."

It's not really that far-fetched. Who would have believed a group of young women would follow Charlie Manson like the pied piper and murder 8 month pregnant Sharon Tate over 30 years ago? Also in California.

Mark Geragos is not about to get egg on his face. If he says he's got the goods, we believe him.

Update: We are watching Greta, and laughing out loud at the makeover lawyer Gloria Allred arranged for Amber Frey. We don't agree with Gloria on a lot of issues, but we like her personally and she sure is a pro at making her clients more presentable.

Update: As of now, we will be discussing the case and these new developments with Gloria Allred and Geraldo Sunday night on Fox News.

From NORML:

Republicans Ron Paul (TX) and Dana Rohrabacher (CA), along with Democrats Barney Frank (MA), Janice Schakowsky (IL) and 21 co-sponsors reintroduced legislation today in Congress that permits the use of medicinal marijuana by seriously ill patients.

The "States' Rights to Medical Marijuana: bill reschedules marijuana from Schedule I to Schedule II under federal law so that physicians may legally prescribe it in states that have legalized the medical use of marijuana under state law. It also permits state legislatures that wish to establish medical marijuana distribution systems the legal authority to do so.

This legislation ... effectively gets the federal government out of the way of those states that wish to regulate marijuana as a medicine. Since 1996, eight states Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have enacted laws allowing patients to possess and use marijuana medicinally under a doctor's supervision.

Passage of the bill would halt federal prosecution of medicinal marijuana patients and their providers in states where the use of physician-approved pot is legal. Since the Bush Administration took office, federal drug enforcement officials have taken action against more than 35 medicinal marijuana patients, cooperatives and providers in California alone.

The "States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act" is the second medical marijuana bill introduced in Congress this year.

In April, Congressmen Sam Farr (D-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and Barney Frank (D-MA) introduced H.R. 1717, the "Truth in Trials Act," which would allow medicinal marijuana patients and providers charged under federal law to introduce evidence at trial that their use of marijuana was for medicinal purposes and/or in accordance with state law. Currently, federal judges will not allow such evidence into testimony because Congress has never determined that marijuana has medical value.

To voice your support for the bill, go here. This action page contains a list of the many co-sponsors of the bill.

If your member of Congress is a co-sponsor, please thank them for their support. If not, please take two minutes to send a pre-written letter to your Congressman, asking them to co-sponsor and support the States’ Rights to Medical Marijuana Act.

We like Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich for this action today:

Refusing to bend to pressure from the Bush administration, Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich signed a bill Thursday that reduces criminal penalties for seriously ill people who smoke marijuana.

....Ehrlich is the first GOP governor to sign a bill protecting medical marijuana patients from jail, according to the Marijuana Policy Project. The Bush administration had pressed him to veto the measure. Ehrlich had indicated his support for the bill early on as a way to help people with chronic illnesses ease their pain.

The new law does not legalize marijuana, but reduces the penalty to a maximum $100 fine with no jail time if defendants convince a judge they need marijuana for medical reasons. Previously, possession or use of marijuana brought penalties of up to a year in prison or a $1,000 fine.

We've had a few medical marijuana clients lately. We know it helps them. We think it's ridiculous that they are subjected to DEA raids in their homes with their children present, property foreclosures (including their homes where the pot is found) and jail.

We prefer decriminalization to legalization. Our clients go to jail if they can't get the proper medical marijuana license. Often, physicians don't want to sign onto a medical pot license. They're worried about their reputations and the heat it may bring. Enough with the rules. Let the sick smoke in peace, free from bureaucratic red tape. We have no objection to criminalizing pot sales to minors, but other than that, particularly for those in medical need due to chronic pain or nausea, let's just let them be.

Marijuana Policy Project and NORML have more.

Received via e-mail from an accomplished Miami criminal defense attorney on the nomination of William Pryor to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals:

My concern is not that General Pryor lacks intellect. He is conservative in his political and personal views, but that alone is not a basis for opposing his nomination. What troubles me profoundly is his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on June 27, 2001, in opposition to the Innocence Protection Act.
In the course of his prepared remarks, General Pryor differentiated between judges and prosecutors on the one hand, and criminal defense attorneys on the other, in the following terms: "Judges are independent. For that matter, so are prosecutors whose ethical duty, in contrast with defense attorneys, is to pursue truth and justice." As a former prosecutor, I recall being taught by my then-boss Janet Reno (at the time, state attorney for Miami-Dade County) that it was a prosecutor's duty to prefer justice to conviction, but a defense attorney's duty to prefer acquittal to justice. It seems to me, however, that Ms. Reno's lesson was offered in a very different spirit than Pryor's testimony. Pryor's remarks impress me as those of someone who is appallingly naive and uninformed about the criminal justice process as it exists, and who proceeds upon his own preconceptions about "good guys and bad guys."

It gets worse. Pryor assured the Senate Judiciary Committee that innocent people simply aren't executed in America. This is such a startling statement, and one so demonstrably false, that it calls into question the judgment and character of the speaker. In support of this baseless allegation, Pryor quotes Prof. Paul Cassell of the University of Utah -- about the only person who would make such a supposititious remark.