Atrios reports that one of the new powers Ashcroft is seeking in Patriot Act II is expanded autopsy powers on U.S. victims of terrorism.

But tucked inside the 87-pages of revisions is new authority for the Justice Department to authorize autopsies to learn more about terrorist perpetrators.

"Autopsies of the victims of terrorist attacks and other deadly crimes, as well as other persons, can be an effective way of obtaining information about the perpetrators," according to the recommendations drafted by the Justice Department Office of Legislative Affairs. "In addition to revealing the cause of death, autopsies sometimes enable law enforcement to retrieve forensic evidence (such as bomb fragments) from the deceased body."

The department suggests that Congress, "create federal authority, in the attorney general, to conduct autopsies when necessary or appropriate in the conduct of federal criminal investigations. This authority is not limited and may be delegated to others."

MyDD says Estrada is on hold and won't be seeing a vote in the Senate. Democrats say they have 44 of their 48 votes agreeing to a filibuster. They only need 41.

Update: Here's more.

If you are a juror in the case, or live with one, please do not read this:

The Jury is out in the Clara Harris murder trial. In closings, the DA, as is typical, told the jurors not to consider their sympathy for Mrs. Harris. And how's this for a derogatory, sexist comment about women--coming from a female DA, no less--

"For heaven's sake, a man is cheating on you, you do what every wife in this county does: Take him to the cleaners...

Excuse us? We hope DA Mia Magness lost every female on the jury with that comment.

Defense attorney George Parnham argued the killing was an accident, Mrs. Harris didn't have murder on her mind when she and her stepdaughter went to the Hearbreak Motel where David Harris and his office worker were carrying on.

We always thought a nice touch in this case was that the Hearbreak Motel at which David Harris carried on with his office worker was the same hotel at which he and Clara Harris had their wedding reception. Talk about a cad!

Here are the options the jury has to weigh:

Judge Carol Davies told jurors today that they can acquit Harris if they have a reasonable doubt, or they can convict her of murder, which can bring a life sentence. The two other options jurors received were convicting her of manslaughter, which can mean two to 20 years in prison, or criminally negligent homicide, which carries as little as 180 days in jail or as much as 10 years in prison, depending on whether the jury finds she used the car as a deadly weapon. Any punishment less than 10 years means probation is possible.

We predict a compromise verdict --manslaughter. Texas has jury sentencing, so it will be interesting to see what sentence they impose on her should they convict her. Her crying throughout the trial and the support she has from her in-laws (another odd twist to the case) should help her there.

Update: The jury deliberated seven hours today without a verdict and is sequestered.

"A co-pilot removed from a Delta Air Lines flight after security screeners said they smelled liquor on his breath was acquitted Wednesday of operating a plane under the influence of alcohol."

"Gary A. Schroeder, 42, of Yorktown was found innocent of the misdemeanor charge by General District Judge Norman A. Thomas. While evidence showed Schroeder apparently had been drinking, there was no evidence that he was under the influence of alcohol, Schroeder said. "

New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty has issued a press release condemning the 8th Circuit's ruling that the state can medicate an insane prisoner so he becomes sane enough to be executed.

The 8th Circuit opinion, which you can read here, held that

"Arkansas may forcibly administer antipsychotic drugs to a prisoner whose date of execution has been set and the State does not violate the Eighth Amendment as it has been interpreted in Ford v. Wainwright when it executes a prisoner who has become incompetent during his long stay on death row but who subsequently regained competency through appropriate medical care."

Here is the text of the NYADP press release:

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled today that PBS's Frontline may not tape jury deliberations during a murder trial.

We agree with the ruling, for reasons we've stated here.

Update: Here's the text of the decision.

Law Prof Eric Muller of IsThatLegal?, who has been following the Howard Coble/Japanese internment camp controversy, has an oped today in the News and Oberserver-- Coble gets real history really wrong:

This is not some petty academic dispute about a historical footnote. Since Sept. 11, 2001, we have been struggling to preserve our safety while also preserving our freedoms and protecting the rights of the millions of good Americans of Arab ancestry and Muslim faith. Coble's dismissive comments about the largest-scale American human rights violation of the 20th century bear directly on his commitment -- and his ability -- to avoid another one in the 21st.

A federal jury has awarded $1.5 million to two narcotics agents.

[The agents]claimed the Pennsylvania attorney general retaliated against them because they uncovered a drug-trafficking ring they said diverted profits to a CIA-backed Dominican presidential candidate.....

McLaughlin and Micewski said they uncovered a drug-trafficking ring operating in Philadelphia, New York and other Eastern cities that funneled drug profits to the left-wing Dominican Revolutionary Party, which they claimed was supported by the CIA and State Department.

They said the U.S. government allowed the party's presidential candidate, Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, to return to the Dominican Republic after a 1995 fund-raising swing through New York with $500,000 in alleged drug profits.

The agents said that shortly after they made their allegations, the Philadelphia district attorney and U.S. Attorney's office stopped prosecuting their drug cases. More than 125 cases were dismissed or dropped after prosecutors accused agents of fabricating evidence and lying on the stand. McLaughlin, Micewski and other agents were transferred and removed from street duty.

The Government plans an appeal.

Don't miss Sam Heldman today on the Estrada nomination--and the myths being perpetuated. [link via Atrios]

Myth 1: The filibuster of Estrada is "unprecedented."

Myth 2: The opposition to Estrada is an instance of national-origin discrimination

Myth 3: It's inappropriate for Senate Democrats to ask tough questions about what Estrada believes about various substantive issues of law.

Sam explains all, go over and read him.

A new anti-war song--with speech clips by Bush and others interspersed in the music. It's brand new, and free to download. Called, In the Garden of Eden --it's by a group facetiously called The Compassionate Conservatives--it's good stuff.

The group says, "We are releasing this song in MP3 format only via the Internet. Free download for anyone, no registration process, no cookies, absolutely no strings attached! Our mission is to uncover the deception and hypocrisy being foisted upon the American public by an arrogant Administration."

Here are the download sites--it's virus free we are assured.

Baltimore

San Francisco

Seattle

St. Louis

You can download from any of the sites, wherever you are.

Don't laugh. It could happen. And according to Michael Gerber, writing for American Prospect, it could be a good thing.

In fact, Springer's political record shows that he is very much a candidate progressive Democrats could embrace. So while no one in the party (understandably) looks forward to clips of Springer's show turning up in his opponents' campaign ads, Democrats shouldn't dismiss a Springer challenge to Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) next year. In fact, they should encourage it.

[Thanks to Hamster for the link]

Tapped disses MSNBC for putting three conservatives on to battle Eric Alterman during a recent appearance to promote his book, What Liberal Media?

The anti-death penalty movement is expanding-- into the sports world.