We mentioned yesterday that here in Denver the other day, Senior U.S. District Court Judge John L. Kane, Jr. got a standing ovation during a speech against the drug war. Columnist Diane Carman details the speech here, don't miss it. If only we had 100 Judge Kanes. Isn't it a shame that once Bush and the Republicans pack the federal bench with right-wing activists, we'll be lucky to have any.

Atrios and David Niewert today both discuss the right wing attempted revival of the possibility of a connection between the Oklahoma City Bombing and Iraq, based on this Frank J. Gaffney Jr. column in the Washington Times. Roger Ailes discusses it here.

The McVeigh defense team tried to explore this angle, although as everyone knows, McVeigh never veered from insisting there was no such connection. This brief filed with the court and available free here, lays out the possible connection uncovered up to that point in time, and what further materials the defense was seeking from the Govenrment so as to be able to complete it's investigation. For those who are interested in this issue, we highly recommend reading the brief. Here is a quote from the brief:

The defense believes that there is credible evidence that a conspiracy to bomb federal property, very possibly the Murrah Building, is centered in Elohim City and the persons described which are associated with Elohim City, but that the technical expertise and possibly financial support came from a foreign country, most likely Iraq, but possibly Iran or another state in the Middle East. Dennis Mahon has admitted publicly to received money from Iraq, approximately once a month. D.E. 2191 at 11. According to Mahon, the money started arriving in 1991 after he began holding rallies protesting the Persian Gulf War. Id. Although the defense has no direct evidence linking Suspect I with Iraq, there is evidence indicating an indirect connection between Suspect I and Iraq through the militant Posse Comitatus group in Kansas.

McVeigh's lead counsel, Stephen Jones, wrote an excellent book, "Others Unknown" detailing his suspicions. But the journalist-written book "American Terrorist" is equally compelling for the proposition that there was no such connection.

Also read David Niewert's Salon article on the controversy over the Government's insistance there was no John Doe II.

We also agree with David Niewert (and disagree with Roger) about Laurie Mylroie. As David points out, she "was for a long time a serious and well-respected Middle East analyst."

We haven't taken a definitive position on Iraq/middle eastern connection--but we have always believed, contrary to the Government's assertion, that there was a real John Doe II.

Here's a bump for one of our earlier posts on the issue:

The conspiracy theorists and right-wing websites are abuzz with the physical similarities between U.S. Citizen and military detainee Padilla and John Doe 2 who witnesses at the Ryder Truck rental facility in Junction City, KS identified back in 1995 as the companion of Timothy McVeigh. Witnesses also put John Doe 2 at the Dreamland motel (answering the door to accept a delivery of chinese food) and in Kingman, AZ. The Goverment lobbied hard for the proposition that John Doe 2 didn't exist--that the witnesses confused him with the associate of another truck renter the day before. Here are the pictures, the resemblence is quite striking, we think the matter needs to be investigated into a bit more. For starters, was Padilla in jail or out and about in April, 1995?

John Doe 2 (left) and Padilla (right)

There is a major lesson in the sentencing of "Shoe-Bomber" Richard Reid. It's not how much time he got, since whether he got 60 years or life, he is going out in a box. [60 years translates to 51 years actual time (85%). Reid is 29. Thus he'd be in prison until he was 80. Very few inmates make it that long in maximum security prisons, and Reid will be going to the Supermax at Florence, CO.]

The lesson is this: Our federal courts and our criminal justice system are well equipped to handle terror cases. There is no need to keep the suspects in military custody, cut off from lawyers --or to try them in secret military tribunals. Reid pleaded guilty to all counts and received no promises of leniency or other sentence concessions. Reid had excellent appointed counsel and a U.S. District Court Judge presiding over his case. The proceedings were open to the media and public. Important court filings by both the Prosecution and the Defense were available on the Internet. The Government got the conviction and the life sentence it sought.

Our criminal justice system and federal courts have succeeded in trying and convicting numerous terrorists. Yet the Justice Department is seriously considering dropping its federal case against Zacarias Moussaoui in favor of a military tribunal proceeding. It's not necessary and it's not right. We can't trust in the integrity of a secret proceeding conducted by the military. If we can't trust in the integrity of the proceeding, we can't trust the end result.

Richard Reid's case proves we can provide even the most unlikable defendant charged with a heinous crime the same constitutional rights we provide to all defendants, and get a conviction and a harsh sentence fair and square. We should insist all such cases be tried this way.

[comments now closed]

GOP strategists are "closely scrutinizing the Democratic field and researchers for the Republican National Committee are preparing attack strategies."

Here's how their current assessments pan out:

"-Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean is an "ultraliberal" who supports civil unions of gay couples and wants to roll back Bush administration tax cuts to support "budget-busting" universal health care.

-North Carolina Sen. John Edwards is a lightweight who has accomplished little and is "a captive of the trial lawyers," since he made his fortune in that profession.

-Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt is "a keeper of the liberal flame" whose appeal with voters fell short in four attempts to win control of the House of Representatives and in a 1988 presidential run.

-Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry is a direct descendant of 1988 Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis, a governor of the same state.

-Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman is failing to stick with his centrist, moderate policies as a senator, reverting to the adjustments he made in 2000 to fit in with Al Gore's liberal, populist presidential campaign.

-The Rev. Al Sharpton is a welcome addition to the field because his attacks from the left will pull all the Democratic candidates toward the left - "

Texas has executed three inmates this week and six so far this month. Since 1982 when Texas' death penalty was reinstated, 295 have been executed. Next week there will be two more Texas executions. Source: UPI

The Nation kicks off its 2003 edition of Death Row Roll Call, a page "meant to remind people how often this macabre form of retribution is still practiced in the US, and to encourage readers to blast off informed letters of protest on behalf of inmates--using the links and tools we provide--to the appropriate governors and officials presiding over executions."

We know, we know, we've been talking about Country Joe and the Fish and the Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag for months--tonight Politics in the Zeros talks about him, and leads us to Country Joe's current website--and a transcript of his testimony (which we were unaware of) in the famous Chicago 8 conspiracy trial in Chicago.

Here are the official lyrics to the song. You can listen to it here.


This is Country Joe getting ready to sing the song at Woodstock.

Don't miss the updated versions of the Rag adapted to meet the current situation with Iraq--on a page called Fixing to Die in Iraq. This one's our favorite:

Well come on all you new young men Uncle Sam's in a mess again
Got himself in a terrible jam
With a crazy Muslim named Saddam
So put dowm your bibles pick up your guns
We're gonna have a whole lot of FUN
And it's 1 2 3 what are we fighting for
Don't ask me I don't give a damn
I just know we gotta kill Saddam
And its 5 6 7 open up the pearly gates
Aint no time to wonder why
Big oil is startin to cry

Well come on all of you christian right
We all know you love a good fight
Now's your chance for a last crusade
The whole damn word has got to be saved
Just remember when your children all die
They'll be standing at the good Lord's side

Come on Dubya ,better move fast
Our gas is burnin and it won't last
Your daddy started but he couldn't finish
Now's your chance to make your own image
Aren't you glad you don't have sons
Cause we're callin up the guard for this one

Country Joe served in the army--he was honorably discharged from the Navy in 1965. Here's his certificate of discharge.

We also found the website for Barry "The Fish" Melton, who co-founded Country Joe and the Fish with Country Joe in 1965. He became a criminal defense lawyer, and most recently, serves as the Public Defender in Yola County, California. He still performs his music.

Last but not least, here is the official website for the band, Country Joe and the Fish.

Tim Russert agrees with us that Hillary is gunning for 2008:

Meet the Press anchor Tim Russert on Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY): "Last week, she secured a position on the Senate Armed Services Committee, a very important strategic move. ... Democrats are unable, unwilling to tackle national security issues, afraid of being labeled as something less than strong or forceful. For the next six years, you'll see Hillary Clinton with the secretary of defense, cross-examining generals visiting military bases here and around the world. And when people suggest that she doesn't have the credentials to run for president of the United States, she will counter, 'I've been on the Armed Services Committee for six years.' It was a very small maneuver. Wasn't paid much attention to. But it was very significant for Hillary watchers. There are a lot of people who want to be president. There are an awful lot of people who don't want to be president. She's positioning herself to run in 2008."

Link via Political Wire.

Dan Forbes in DrugWar on why the Superbowl anti-drug ads won't work.

In other drug war news, Free Ed Rosenthal protests are being held Wednesday at U.S. Embassies around the world. Details here.

Who's Ed Rosenthal? We tell you here. The case went to the jury today, and deliberations begin Friday.

And in still other drug war news, in Denver, Senior U.S. District Court Judge John Kane, Jr. told guests at a packed City Club luncheon at the Brown Palace Hotel that "America's war on drugs is costly, ignorant and doesn't work." Kane got a standing ovation.

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. called for Marlyand to abolish its death penalty today. He noted flaws in the system and the possibility that innocent persons could be executed.

His Press Release stated that due to the system's fallibility, "capital punishment could come only at the "intolerable cost of executing, every so often, the wrong person."

Here is the text of Curran's open letter to the Governor, Lt. Governor and General Assembly. Here is the text of the statement he made at the Press Conference today.

Reaction from Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.

Attorney General Curran recognizes that the death penalty is error-prone, immoral, biased and a fundamental violation of human rights. Today he reminds us that politics, at its best, is about principled leadership. Eight of the 12 people on Maryland's death row are black, and every single person on death row was convicted of killing a white victim - despite the fact that 80 percent of homicides in Maryland involve black or Latino victims. A study recently released by the University of Maryland found that Maryland's death penalty discriminates not only on the basis of the victim's race, but also on geography - most death penalty convictions occur in largely white, suburban Baltimore County.

1,250 first-time drug prisoners have been freed from jail in Michigan due to the state's repeal of its draconian mandatory minimum sentencing law. "The Legislature last month repealed Michigan's controversial 1973 drug sentencing law that forced judges to impose long mandatory minimum sentences based on the quantity of drugs involved in the crime. The crackdown was aimed at drug kingpins, but also imprisoned were hundreds of first-time non-violent offenders.... Many received longer prison terms than violent career criminals."

For more details on this, see our prior post here, and Families Against Mandatory Minimums ( FAMM).

The repeal will save Michigan $41 Million.

The GOP successfully propelled the judicial nomination of Miguel Estrada out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, headed to a full Senate vote. "The committee sent Estrada's nomination for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to the full Senate on a 10-9 vote. All Republicans voted for Estrada and all Democrats opposed the nomination."

If confirmed, Estrada will sit on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Speculation has it that Bush wants Estrada on the U.S. Supreme Court.

The vote could come as early as tomorrow. "Republicans...hold a two-vote advantage in the Senate, where a filibuster is the only likely option for Democrats to stop a presidential nominee. "It'll be an intensive debate and they'll fight against him, but I think in the end we'll be able to get Miguel out," said the committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah."

We hope there's a filibuster. Here's why. Here's more.

Earlier this month we wrote about Ashcroft's new directive to the Bureau of Prisons to return certain offenders serving sentences in half-way houses to federal prison facilities. The directive was signed by Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson. Ashcroft promoted this directive as targeting white collar offenders. We learned from Philadelphia attorney Peter Goldberger that this was not the case. (See above post for his comments.)

Several federal courts around the country have been granting temporary injunctions against the policy. Last week, Judge Huvell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia entered a permanent injunction against the policy, ruling:

principles of equitable estoppel and due process preclude BOP from relying on its new policy to remove petitioner from her current placement. The Court will therefore grant petitioner’s motion, and enter an order enjoining BOP from transferring her from Fairview on the basis of the newly-announced DOJ policy regarding BOP’s lack of authority to substitute halfway house placement for imprisonment.

Here is the Order the Court entered:

For the reasons set forth in the attached Memorandum Opinion, it is hereby ORDERED that petitioner’s motion to Vacate, Set Aside, or Correct Sentence is GRANTED IN PART; and it is FURTHER ORDERED that the Bureau of Prisons is enjoined from transferring Shawna Culter from the Fairview Community Confinement Center pursuant to the new inmate designation policy described in the December 16, 2002 Memorandum from Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson to BOP Director Kathleen Hawk Sawyer. It is so ordered.

Goldberger was correct in his assertion that females were disproportionately affected by the policy change. Judge Huvelle states in her ruling (Page 10, note 3):

At oral argument BOP reported that 132 CCC inmates nationwide have been affected by the Bureau’s 150-day rule. Interestingly, the burden of the changed policy and this arbitrary cutoff has fallen more heavily on female inmates. Over a third of those now faced with transfer (45 of 132) are women, compared with an overall federal inmate population of only 6.9% female. (Oral Argument Tr., 1/21/03, at 27-28.)

Todd Bussert of Connecticut and Peter Goldberger of Philadelphia wrote the Amicus Brief on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in the case. Federal Defender A.J. Kramer wrote the principal brief.

Judges in San Diego, North Carolina and elsewhere have granted temporary restraining orders against the new policy. At last count, only one federal court-- in Detroit-- has refused to do so.

Correction: Todd Bussert and Peter Goldberger wrote the Amicus brief in an Eastern District of New York case, not the District of Columbia case. Other courts granting relief include two New Jersey courts, and courts in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Massachussetts and Idaho. An Eastern District of New York court denied habeas relief in one case.