Jim at Rittenhouse points us to this newsworthy article: California has passed a law granting a new hearing to inmates doing time for killing their abusive partners.

The law, almost a year old, may release hundreds of battered women serving jail terms for murder. It provides inmates with "a chance to prove the outcome of their trial could have been different had evidence of "battered-woman syndrome" been presented." The effect: Abused women now have "one last legal tool to seek a new trial, have the severity of their offense reduced or even be released with time served"

Kudos to California, we hope other states follow suit.

Check out this totally impressive site dedicated to the Central Park Jogger case--called One People's Project.

The National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also known as NORML, reiterates its stance against driving while impaired by pot but Questions Feds' Proposed Crackdown On "Drugged Driving."

"This plan advocated by the Drug Czar would result in the unfair arrest of tens of thousands of unimpaired motorists each year," NORML Head Warns"

"While driving under the influence of pot is never acceptable, neither is it sound public policy to treat sober drivers as if they are impaired simply because inactive marijuana metabolites may be detectable in their blood or urine, said Keith Stroup, Executive Director of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML). Stroup's remarks were in response to this week's launch of a new federal campaign to prosecute drivers who test positive for any presence of marijuana, including inactive metabolites that can remain present in the body for days or even weeks after past pot use."

By the way, if you are a criminal defense lawyer or wannabe, NORML is having its annual continual legal education program Dec 5 to 7 in Key West at the Pier House. Go here for details.

We'll be there speaking on the topic "Everybody's Listening: Changes and Updates to Electronic Surveillance After the USA Patriot Act."

Welcome Back to Jim Capozzola of the Rittenhouse Review who was on blogging hiatus last week but has returned. As always, he provides a unique perspective that is easy to read yet thought-provoking - sometimes serious, sometimes entertaining, and sometimes caustic --on a variety of current issues.

"The Homeland Security Act has been passed, and the Pentagon has been cleared to begin snooping into Americans' public and private acts. Get ready to read even more references to George Orwell."

New commentary, Sacrificed for Security, at Mother Jones

The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics has put online a new compilation on homicide trends in the United States . You can view them here.

You will find a series of charts that describe homicide patterns and trends in the United States since 1976. All charts, tables and other information have been updated with the 2000 Supplementary Homicide Reports and Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted data.

(Thanks to Dan Dodson, Media Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers for notifying us of the link)

The New York Times today calls on Illinois Governor George Ryan to grant blanket commutations to all prisoners on death row:

"Governor Ryan, a conservative Republican who voted for the death penalty as a legislator, has said repeatedly that he is considering a blanket commutation, which would reduce death sentences to life in prison. But last month's hearings, which received wide attention across the state, appear to have slowed the momentum. The testimony, much of it from families of murder victims, was often heart-wrenching. But as effective as they were as a reminder of the pain that crime causes, the hearings did not refute the fact that Illinois's use of the death penalty is tragically flawed. Governor Ryan, who has made fairness in administering the death penalty a hallmark of his governorship, will end his tenure on a high note if he takes one last stand for justice and issues a blanket commutation."

From USA Today: "Moussaoui's link to 9/11 is in doubt : Defendant met with planner but could have been involved in separate terror plots, officials say"

This is what we've been saying all along, as recently as yesterday and much earlier, here and here:

A quote from our earlier post:

"He has admitted to being a member of Al Qaeda, and to having knowledge about who committed the attacks. In our opinion, that is not enough to make him a co-conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks.

One more thing: If the Government's evidence is that Moussaoui was a member of a different conspiracy than the one charged in the Indictment, the jury will be instructed to acquit on the charged conspiracy. They can't win by proving a different conspiracy than the one charged in the Indictment.

So if Moussaoui was being used by Al Qaeda to commit some other terrorist act, e.g. one involving crop dusters on another day in another city or if he hadn't yet been activated, or if they decided his crummy flight training record didn't warrant him being involved in Sept. 11, this case is no slam dunk for the Government. In our opinion, of course."

(USA article via How Appealing)

A federal judge in New York has ordered police to stop arresting drug users who participate in needle-exchange programs.

The judge "granted a declaratory judgment in favor of plaintiffs who alleged police were wrongly charging users with drug possession based on the residue of drugs found in used needles, and with illegal possession of needles and syringes."

"A massive database that the government will use to monitor every purchase made by every American citizen is a necessary tool in the war on terror, the Pentagon said Wednesday."

The database, which is viewed by the Pentagon as another "tool" in the war on terror, will look for "telltale signs of suspicious consumer behavior."

Examples cited were: "sudden and large cash withdrawals, one-way air or rail travel, rental car transactions and purchases of firearms, chemicals or agents that could be used to produce biological or chemical weapons."

The program will also "combine consumer information with visa records, passports, arrest records or reports of suspicious activity given to law enforcement or intelligence services."

Lisa English over at RuminateThis was impressed with Al Gore's political comments on NPR yesterday. We saw and heard him on Larry King Live last night and had the same reaction as Lisa:

"...what captured my attention most were the comments both Gores had about the Election of 2004 and politics in general. Gore came across as a very human, engaging, brilliant and funny guy. If the race were to be run today, and the candidates leaving the starting blocks were those who've already indicated a desire or semi-interest in running, I've gotta tell you...Gore's looking damn good. He's not sounding like every other lefty politician, and maybe...just maybe...he does have it what it takes. This after all, is the guy who won more votes than any Democratic presidential candidate in US history, not to mention the fact that he beat George Bush by more than half a million popular ballots cast. Like I said...he's looking damn good."

We thought Gorewas surpisingly animated and unrehearsed --he had great comments opposing Bush's foreign policy and economic plans, and most important to us, he sharply rebuked the Bush administration for its civil liberties violations since Sept. 11--down to stating that if the TIA (Total Information Awareness) program were not removed from the Homeland Security Bill, he would have voted down "the whole dern thing."

We gained a whole new respect for Al last night. Now, if he'd only come out for a moratorium on the death penalty, or at least for the Innocence Protection Act, we might be actively supporting him rather than just praising him.

We also liked that he's still friends with Bill and went out of his way to describe their closeness since the 2000 elections. If Al will continue to say what he really thinks instead of what he thinks he is supposed to say, we'd say he's very much still in the ballgame.

"Some people thought "The Vagina Monologues" -- women sitting on stools talking about vaginas -- was controversial. What people will think of "The Marijuana-logues" -- men sitting on stools talking about pot -- is anyone's guess."

The show is tonight in Kansas City at Stanford & Sons Comedy Club, 504 Westport Road.

"The show's comical monologues on the "killer weed" are written and performed by comedians Arj Barker, Doug Benson and Tony Camin. Their individual credits include appearances on "The Tonight Show," "The Late Show With David Letterman," "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," "The Late, Late Show With Craig Kilborn" and "Friends."

"The trio points out in a statement: "This verbal journey will not glorify drug use but will show that the ritual of pot smoking can be a thing of sustenance, humor and creativity. Either that or you will think, `What a bunch of dumb potheads.' "