Dumb law of the week: In Souderton, PA, outside Philadelphia:

Borough officials are considering an ordinance that would make it illegal for groups of people to gather anywhere from public sidewalks to parks, with the threat of jail time for loiterers -- and, in the case of juvenile repeat offenders, their parents.

Local leaders say the loitering ordinance is needed to address what they say is a growing incidence of vandalism and other misbehavior.

But the proposal has raised the ire of civil libertarians, not to mention local teenagers who say this community of 6,700 outside Philadelphia is trying to make "hanging out" a crime.

"What are we supposed to do, just sit in our houses?" asked Becca Murphy, 13, who was hanging out with a half-dozen friends after school Tuesday in Souderton Community Park on Main Street. "There's no problems here, there's no gangs or anything at all. It's totally ridiculous."

Steve Bates of The Yellow Doggerel Democrat recounts his experience being summoned for jury duty in a Texas capital murder case. He's not at all happy with the system, particularly the requirement that jurors be "death qualified" before they can be selected--jurors say they have to be willing to impose death in the appropriate case. Persons who say they could not impose the death penalty no matter what are not allowed to serve.

Unfortunately, this is the law throughout the country. Prospective jurors should know this. [thanks to Body and Soul for the link]

Does this sound like someone about to flee? CNN reports Saturday,

Scott Peterson is under arrest and locked up a few blocks away from here at the Stanislaus County jail. He was picked up yesterday by Modesto police in San Diego. They had been following him around for ... days using some different technology. The attorney general is saying they had a bug on his car so they would know exactly where he was going. A couple of times, he even got out and came back and spoke to detectives and said basically, "Why don't you go ahead and arrest me?" They finally did yesterday afternoon.

Here's our initial post on the DNA confirmation of the remains and Peterson's arrest.

The U.S. is holding 6,850 Iraqi war prisoners. Just a handful are top Iraqi leaders. In deciding what to do with the prisoners, the U.S. says that it is in uncharted legal waters.

Prisoners of war are entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions. The U.S. does not dispute this.

Unlike the 660 or so captives held at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay as part of the American war on terrorism, the POWs in Iraq were combatants in a conventional war, so the United States is bound by the Geneva Conventions in its treatment of them, the U.S. officials said.

The Government says it is leaning towards dividing the prisoners into two groups:

A senior U.S. government official said yesterday that "it's very early in the process" of determining the legal fate of the Iraqi military officials in detention. But the government is inclined to divide those it eventually brings to justice into two groups, allowing Iraqi authorities to try people for "crimes against the Iraqi people," while courts under U.S. auspices would handle "crimes against Americans" such as Iraqi soldiers' waving a white flag before attacking, placing artillery in schools and mosques, and beating U.S. POWs, the official said.

The Judge in the sniper case has entered an order declaring that any law enforcement agents who leak information about the sniper case will be subject to prosecution for contempt of court.

Defense lawyers have complained for months about the leaks, some of which have been published in the Washington Post. Friday, the lawyers for John Muhammed obtained subpoenas for five investigators in Prince Williams County and four Washington Post reporters, concerning this April 6 Post article that summarized police reports of suspect John Lee Malvo's statements.

The Judge stopped short of ordering an investigation into the leaks.

The brother of Zacarias Moussoaoui writes about "My Brother Zac" in Saturday's Guardian. Abd Samad Moussaoui describes a childhood "beset by racism in France and the indoctrination he believes his brother received in London, which drove him into the arms of al-Qaida."

The article is an edited "extract" from Abd's forthcoming book, Zacarias Moussaoui: The Making Of A Terrorist, scheduled for release May 22 by Serpent Books.

A press conference is underway in Modesto, CA where law enforcement announces that DNA tests confirm the unidentified female who washed ashore earlier this week is in fact Laci Peterson, who has been missing since Christmas Eve. Laci was 8 1/2 months pregnant at the time. The fetus that washed ashore within a day of Laci is the biological child of her and Scott Peterson. The probability is "in the billions."

Scott Peterson has been arrested. He was arrested between 11 and 12 noon, before they got the final DNA results. Law enforcement determined he had to be arrested at that time. He was arrested while driving a vehicle. Sounds to us like they thought he might flee--perhaps through a wiretap and cell phone records, but the police aren't talking about that.

He will be charged Monday or Tuesday in Stanislaus County, CA with capital murder. The special circumstances are a double homicide. No decision has been made as to seeking the death penalty, although it is an option.

Cause of death has not been determined. Laci spoke with her mother at 8:30 am from her home Christmas Eve morning. That was the last contact with her and there have been no sightings of her alive since. Since Scott Peterson is being charged in the county where she lived as opposed to the county where her body was found, it is likely police believe that Laci was killed in or near their home.

We'll be talking about Scott's possible defenses on Fox News Sunday at 2:35, E.T.

Attorney General John Ashcroft has done it again. At a news conference Thursday, Ashcroft commented on the credibility and value of a government witness in the ongoing Detroit terrorism trial, in which the Government has accused four men of being in a sleeper cell.

A federal judge said Friday he was "distressed" by Attorney General John Ashcroft's public praise of a key government witness at the trial of four men accused of acting as a "sleeper" terrorist cell....

"I was distressed to see the attorney general commenting in the middle of a trial about the credibility of a witness who had just gotten off the stand," Rosen said. Later, Rosen added, "The attorney general is subject to the orders of this court. ... The attorney general has specifically been put on notice about the scope of its gag order."

...At a news conference Thursday in Washington, Ashcroft called witness Youssef Hmimssa's cooperation "a critical tool" in efforts to combat terrorism. He said it should put potential terrorists on notice that there are informants among them. "His testimony has been of value, substantial value," Ashcroft said.

This is improper on a few levels. First, there is a gag order imposed on the parties in the case. Second, ethical rules prohibit prosecutors from giving their opinion on the quality of evidence in an ongoing case (see, for example, rules 3.6 and 3.8 of the American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct ). The credibility of the Governement witness is a huge issue in the case.

Defense lawyers say Hmimssa is a liar who is trying to save himself from harsher punishment. Hmimssa, who arrived illegally in the United States in 1994, has admitted using aliases, engaging in document fraud and leading a credit card scheme that netted more than $180,000.

The Attorney General of the United States knows better than to comment on trial evidence at a press conference. It's the second time he has violated the gag order in the case, according to defense counsel. The Judge may make Ashcroft explain himself after the trial. That hardly helps the defendants overcome the prejudice caused by his comments if one of the jurors saw the conference or had his comments repeated to him or her. Jurors weigh the credibility of witnesses and strength of evidence, not proseuctors.

Dan Abrams' MSNBC show, The Abrams Report, has been cancelled. Dan will stay on as NBC/MSNBC's chief legal corresondent--appearing on news shows like Today and Nightly News, and doing some afternoon anchoring for MSNBC. Dan's show was fun to watch, he put his heart into it. We hope he gets another show soon.

Update: Dan's show has been reinstated, not to worry.

Gary Hart is seeking volunteers as he continues his "testing of the waters" for a presidential run. From his newsletter, received today:

WE NEED YOUR HELP - GET INVOLVED! In 1984, the enthusiasm of volunteers vaulted a young senator from Colorado to challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 2003, we are no less dedicated to building a foundation of passionate volunteers. We currently need people across the country who are willing to help us promote local appearances, organize local volunteer groups, and contribute ideas in support of Gary Hart's efforts to test the waters of a potential candidacy. If you're interested in volunteering, please email us at .

Sounds like a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a possible campaign.

"What are the rights and obligations of “Occupying Powers,” the legal term for countries that occupy an adversary’s territory?"

Michael N. Schmitt is Professor of International Law at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. In this article, he notes that "As growing portions of Iraq fall to U.S. and British forces, it is a propitious time to review the basic requirements of that body of law."

We recommend Schmitt's tour of The Annexed Regulations to Hague Convention IV of 1907, the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, and customary international law setting forth the laws of belligerent occupation applicable in this conflict.

Nat Hentoff continues to ask, "Where's the Press?" We join him. Check out his new column in the Village Voice explaining the dangers of the proposed Clean Air Act, FBI spyplanes and CAPPS II:

Every time the administration removes another strand of the liberties in the Bill of Rights, we are told it has to be done in the vital interest of our homeland's security against the terrorists. But it is increasingly clear that we the citizens need to be secure from our government—not only where our liberties are concerned but also with regard to our health and our very lives. An astonishing proposal in the Bush-Ashcroft draft of Patriot Act II—hardly reported, if at all, in much of the press—subverts the Clean Air Act so radically that residents in towns and cities around the country could be affected.....

Then there is the issue of the FBI Spyplanes, reported March 15 in the Associated Press:

In the March 15 Daily News, there was an Associated Press report from Washington that more than 80 FBI planes and helicopters are being used to "track and collect intelligence on suspected terrorists and other criminals." Note the key word, "suspected."

Among the FBI's aircraft, the AP story continues, "are several planes, known as Nightstalkers, equipped with infrared devices that allow agents to track people and vehicles in the dark.

"Other aircraft are outfitted with electronic surveillance equipment so agents can access listening devices placed in cars, in buildings, and even along streets, or listen to cell phone calls. . . . All 56 FBI field offices have access to aircraft. . . . [Legally,] no warrants are necessary for the FBI to track cars or people from the air." The good news, as it were, is that the FBI does need warrants to monitor cell-phone calls, even if from a plane.

Hentoff also addresses CAPS II:

A February 27 warning from the ACLU, about which I've seen few follow-ups in the press, begins: "A secretive new system for conducting background checks on all airline passengers threatens to create a bureaucratic machine for destroying Americans' privacy and a government blacklist that will harm innocent Americans."

Hentoff asks, where is the mainstream press follow-up on these stories? We can't speak for the mainstream press, but bloggers have been timely following them. Our continual coverage of Patriot Act II is here and CAPPS II here. We wrote about the the spyplanes here. Other bloggers have too, including Instapundit and Patriot Watch.

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