President Bush has granted seven pardons --the first of his administration. Almost all were for minor offenses. Here's who got pardoned:

"A Mississippi man who tampered with a car odometer; a postal employee who stole $10.90 worth of mail; a Tennessee man sentenced in 1962 for making untaxed whiskey; an Oregon man convicted in 1966 in a grain-theft conspiracy; an Iowa man sentenced in 1989 for lying to the Social Security Administration; a Washington state man sentenced in 1972 for stealing $38,000 worth of copper wire; and a Wisconsin minister who refused to be inducted into the military, sentenced in 1957."

Out of all the people who applied, these are the only people worthy of Bush's compassion? He doesn't deserve to use the word.

The Washington Post feels the same way, but phrases it much more charitably:

"The federal inmate population today is larger than it has ever been; the role of pardons should be bigger than ever. Yet Mr. Bush could not find a single inmate who deserved clemency. By issuing an average of 3.5 pardons a year -- none of which carries consequence other than forgiveness for individuals who long ago served their time -- he announces, in effect, that the American justice system requires no check, just a Christmas card."

Los Angeles Celebrity Sleuth Anthony Pellicano appeared in court today, and denied weapons charges and charges related to his knowing Steven Seagall.

"Celebrity sleuth Anthony Pellicano on Monday proclaimed his innocence to federal weapons charges stemming from a police probe into the alleged harassment of a Los Angeles Times reporter."

Fortunately for Mr. Pellicano, he has an outstanding defense lawyer, Donald Re, also of Los Angeles. "Re, called the felony and misdemeanor charges "outrageous" and "inappropriate," and said Pellicano, 58, had "a legitimate reason" for having the weapons."

Pellicano faces up to 11 years in federal prison if convicted on both counts. His trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 11.

The National Law Journal picks its Lawyer of the Year based on an evaluation of an attorney's impact during the previous 12 months. This year's selection: "New Mexico law professor James Ellis, who helped build a national consensus against the execution of mentally retarded criminals and convinced the U.S. Supreme Court of it."

"Next semester the whole country can get a lesson in Bill Clinton."

"The C-SPAN public affairs cable network will broadcast every class of "The Clinton Presidency," a new course at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock that will examine the former president's achievements and scandals."

"Guest lecturers will include longtime Clinton lawyer David Kendall, Clinton confidant and counsel Bruce Lindsey, former NATO commander Wesley Clark and the former president himself. Clinton critics, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, also have been invited."

The class, which begins January 16, will be taught by political science professor Margaret Scranton and will focus on "Clinton's impeachment, his campaign style and his rise from a Southern governor to a political powerhouse, as well as issues such as foreign policy, health care and the economy."

Bob at Politics in the Zeros reports that the mass INS arrests are not just happening in LA, but in Houston and Cleveland as well. He's got the whole story.

The ACLU says that Ashcroft's immigrant registration program is merely a pretext for mass detentions. Many of the arrested are not being allowed calls to lawyers and lawyers are being refused information on their client's whereabouts.

"Given the evidence, there is no alarmism in saying this is a round-up," said Lucas Guttentag, Director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. "Attorney General Ashcroft is using the immigrant registration program to lock up people who already have provided extensive information as part of their green card applications," he said. "Therefore the purpose is clearly not to get information but rather to selectively arrest, detain and deport Middle Eastern and Muslim men in the United States."

We got an e-mail last night asking us to read a message forum where some folks have been posting about being unfairly treated after being stopped at a roablock by state and federal law enforcement in Arizona . The forum directed us to the Roadblock Registry, a site "dedicated to the subject (and elimination) of roadblocks on public streets, roads and highways", sponsored by the National Motorists Association, "North America's most outspoken defender of drivers' rights." We like the site and are spreading the word about it.

The group's position on roadblocks is straight-forward.

"We oppose the use of roadblocks, period. The only justification for stopping citizens under a roadblock scenario is to warn them of an unseen peril that could cause injury or death to an unsuspecting motorist. So-called "sobriety check points," or seat belt checks, or the myriad of other excuses the government concocts to harass and intimidate its citizens through the use of roadblocks are, in our opinion unconstitutional and in direct contradiction to any honest definition of freedom."

Here is their mission statement:

"The goal of this web site is to permanently eliminate the use of roadblocks, no matter their purpose or sponsorship. Initially we will provide information on how to avoid roadblocks, by listing their locations (with your assistance). We will also develop a portfolio of information and court cases that will educate our visitors on their rights and the limitations the courts have placed on roadblock operators. Finally, through the National Motorists Association and the National Motorists Association Foundation we will promote legislation, support litigation, and sponsor publicity all aimed at eliminating the use of roadblocks for public policy and political agendas."

The site has a state-by-state listing of known and announced roadblocks, and invites readers to contribute their knowledge of others.

It also tells readers what their rights are when stopped for a roadblock. We aren't vouching for the accuracy of the information, and we don't give legal advice to the general public, but if you're interested in the topic, especially as roadblocks will be in high gear through New Years, you might take a look .

As to the unfortunate person who was stopped at the roadblock in Arizona, you can read his story here.

The Rocky Mountain News rocks today. First is an editorial supporting the revival of presidential pardons. Yesterday the News came out for free speech in the Virginia cross-burning case: "Once the government gets into the business of suppressing odious messages, where does it stop?"

The Boulder Daily Camera is on top of it as well, check out Civil Extremists: If Dissent is a Crime, Just Lock Us Up.

The Miami Herald is running a series critical of confessions obtained by police in murder cases. The story contends that 38 murder confessions have been thrown out since 1990. (via the Guardroom).

Press Release of the Wisconsin Green Party received from Pete Karas of the Progressive Racine Blog:

The Wisconsin Green Party today joined the Wisconsin American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in calling for the dismissal of all citations issued by the City of Racine at the November 2, 2002 Uptown Theatre Group's Haunted House Party. In addition, the Wisconsin Green Party also supports the local Green Party of Kenosha and Racine in their call for an independent investigation into the event.

According to media reports, the Racine police were notified by the United States Customs Office that the fundraiser, intended to raise funds to restore the historic Uptown Theater, was to be a "rave party", defined as a party known for a mix of electronic music and recreational drugs, including Ecstasy. Purportedly acting on this tip, the Racine police raided and shut down the fundraiser, arresting three people on drug charges.

The police also issued 441 attendees of the annual fundraiser citations for "being patrons or keepers of a disorderly house." Among the hundreds in attendance, only three were found to be in possession of illegal drugs. Each citation carries a penalty of $968. The City of Racine has since offered to reduce these fines to $100 and changed the charge to 'Disorderly Conduct'. A handful of the accused have accepted this offer; however, the vast majority of those ticketed have pleaded not guilty and demanded a jury trial. The Wisconsin ACLU has agreed to provide legal representation for all involved.

Jessica Thill, of the Wisconsin Green Party, today announced, "Reducing the fines and asking the accused to plead guilty to a lesser 'crime' ignores the fact that the Racine Police Department has violated the First Amendment rights of more than 400 citizens. The right to peaceably assemble is guaranteed to all of us, whether we listen to electronic music or conservative talk radio."

Thill then noted that a similar police action in Houston, Texas this August pompted public outcry that has since resulted in several police officer suspensions, two criminal indictments, and millions of dollars of lawsuits against the city of Houston.

"Simply put: the City of Racine needs to admit that they were in the wrong, and immediately dismiss these citations," said Pete Karas, a Green Party Member and Aldermanic candidate for Racine's ninth district. "In addition to the obvious civil rights violations, the cost to the taxpayers of almost 400 jury trials and the potential costs of civil lawsuits, if pursued, would be exorbitant. Instead of repeating the mistakes made in Houston earlier this year, we could be spending that money on legitimate efforts to sincerely address civil rights violations and drug abuse in our community."

The Wisconsin Green Party is also urging the City of Racine to appoint an independent special counsel to investigate the actions of the Racine Police Department and other City Officials in the handling of this event. This would hopefully help to prevent further violations in the future.

Here is the statement of the Green Party of Kenosha/Racine.

"The last defendant in the Central Park jogger case remaining in jail will spend Christmas as a free man after a judge on Monday resentenced him to a lesser term on a drug conviction. Raymond Santana had served his sentence for the 1989 park attack when he was arrested on a drug charge in 1998. Because he was a prior felon, he was sentenced to 3 1/2 years to seven years in prison."

LiberalOasis has an excellent wrap-up of concerns about Bill Frist that neither the Democrats nor talk show hosts addressed on the Sunday news shows yesterday.

Don't miss Lisa English of Ruminate This on the Black Hole of Guantanamo. The Toronto Star has even more.

Kevin over at Lean Left reports on the backlash against the Patriot Act.

Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul on charity drives: "The one donation to clothing drives that sends me round the bend is torn underwear. What kind of people think the poor are so desperate they'd wear someone else's old underwear? And are they sitting at home basking in the warm glow of their generosity?"

Sisyphyus Shrugged on the war on Iraq (quoting from a Palm Beach Post Editorial):

Real or imagined, however, the question matters. If you accept the notion that there is no such thing as a "good" war or a "bad" war, but that there can be a "right" war and a "wrong" war for a country to fight, the president has the obligation to show that a war is "right" enough for mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters to believe that if their loved one comes home in a box, the sacrifice will have been worth it.

Patrick and Theresa Nielsen-Hayden post some informative and revealing comments about the difference between those taking prescribed amphetamines and drug abusers in the comments section to our post on the USAF pilots who were directed to take amphetamines, did so, and ended up crashing and causing a fatality.

Via Sideshow, who we don't mention as often as we should, check out Blah 3's video on the year with Bush.

We've modified our blogrolls to separate out the strictly legal blogs and move the alternative news sites into their own space. We've also added a few blogs, including Sisyphus Shrugged, LawSites, and in our "other side" category, we've actually added a law enforcement blog, The Guardroom.

For left-oriented news, we like What Really Happened and Take Back the Media.

A new blog we really like is Randy Paul's Beautiful Horizons, about the cultures and politics of Latin America. It's just a few weeks old, so it's not on our blogroll yet, but we do highly recommend it--both for Randy's writing style and the content.

If you used to be on our blogroll and got deleted, it's probably an accident so send us an e-mail.

Vodkapundit sends us to Tim Blair's unique request for donations. While his pitch is not our style, we don't mind saying to our loyal and frequent readers that we gratefully accept tips. They make us feel good about the hours we spend reading, searching and writing. So if you think we're worth it, please hit either of the two tip links on the left. With Amazon you are anonymous, with Paypal we know who you are.

We may be one of the only people in the blogosphere not familiar with the content of the writings of Andrew Sullivan, but our hat is off to him for his pledge drive last week that earned him $80k. That's not a typo. We wonder how much came from Richard Mellon Scaife, though.