Courtesy of Mercedes Benz, Salon Premium articles are free today. All you have to do is look at four pictures of a new mercedes, it's very short. We did it because we wanted to read Eric Boehlert's interview with law professor and civil liberties expert David Cole about the effect of the new FISA court opinion. It's a good interview.

Another don't miss is Bush's Reefer Madness that confirms what we reported last week, "Terrified that an increasingly pot-tolerant America will spell the end of their moral crusade, the president's anti-drug warriors are making a last stand over marijuana."

There is an excellent, very long article recapturing the Central Park Jogger case, and particularly the conduct of the original prosecutors, in this week's Village Voice, When Justice Is a Game: A Journey Through the Tangled Case of the Central Park Jogger by Sydney H. Schanberg. We recommend you read the whole thing, but here are some highlights:

"Morgenthau has a court date of December 5 to deliver his recommendations on whether the convictions should be vacated. Unseen backstage, the two assistant district attorneys in charge of Morgenthau's reinvestigation, Nancy Ryan and Peter Casolaro, are said to be under heavy lobbying from the players who produced those convictions. It's now a tug-of-war between a fair decision and one that would try to protect some carefully crafted reputations. "

Of prosecutor Linda Fairstein, Schanberg writes:

"So intense was the push for confessions that Fairstein, who had sought and achieved celebrity from her sex-crime prosecutions, bullied and stalled and blocked the mother and two friends of one suspect, Yusef Salaam, from gaining access to him. Fairstein's apparent purpose was to keep the suspect under wraps because she had been informed by the interrogating detective that the questioning was in a delicate phase where Salaam had begun to make some admissions. A short while later, Fairstein realized she could not bar the mother any longer, and the angry parent halted the interrogation."

"Linda Fairstein, a fiercely competitive, driven professional who was 41 at the time of the jogger rape, has since left the D.A.'s office to write novels about an assistant district attorney who prosecutes sex crimes. When the rape occurred, she raced into the fray to wrest the case away from Nancy Ryan, 39, another upward A.D.A. who was Fairstein's chief rival in the Morgenthau constellation. Now, Morgenthau has put Ryan in charge of his reinvestigation of the case. Those who know Fairstein say she harbors a dream of succeeding Morgenthau as Manhattan D.A. The latest developments could wreck that dream."

"....People sometimes use the phrase "the game" to describe how big systems like government and multinational corporations often get manipulated not for the common good but for the good of the people who run them. It's not a description of evil, but rather of human nature. It explains what happens when individuals have been doing things a certain way for a long time and come to believe this is always the right way. One symptom is when a player begins to focus only on winning, on trouncing the opposing side. Another is when people become so habit-formed and sure of themselves that they stop asking the question: "Could I possibly be wrong about this?"

"The story of the Central Park jogger case may be in large part a story about people in the justice system playing the game—when they should have been doing the right thing. "

The second article is about DA Linda Fairstein, and three cases she's botched, not just the jogger case, leading the author and others to speculate that her quest for higher office and greater power and fame may be at a dead-end:

"Following a confession to the Central Park attack by imprisoned serial rapist Matias Reyes, whose DNA links him to the brutal crime, the jogger case seems to be cracking open to reveal prosecutorial failures. Worse, this appears to be the third flub of a major case from the glory days of a prosecutor who was once a Clinton administration candidate for United States Attorney General and who is still considered by some a contender to replace current district attorney Robert Morgenthau should he retire."

"Fairstein's behavior seemed so outrageous that in the 1993 appeals decision on Salaam's case then appellate court judge Vito Titone specifically named her in his dissenting opinion and blasted the entire interrogation process. He recently told Newsday, "I was concerned about a criminal justice system that would tolerate the conduct of the prosecutor, Linda Fairstein, who deliberately engineered the 15-year-old's confession. . . . Fairstein wanted to make a name. She didn't care. She wasn't a human."

"Though Fairstein retired from the D.A.'s office last spring, many attorneys agree that she still has devotees both in that office and among detectives. And according to some close to the case, the rivalry between her and Ryan, who is said to believe the Central Park Five were not linked to the crime, still exists."

"But there is the possibility that Fairstein's power is beginning to diminish. She recently pressured producers at ABC's Primetime not to run a story featuring interviews with a few of the Central Park Five. ABC not only ran that show, but aired a clip of it on Good Morning America, which is co-anchored by Diane Sawyer, a longtime Fairstein friend who wrote praise for her first book. Of course, her staying power remains to be seen in February, when the D.A.'s office is scheduled to release its final decision on the Central Park case."

Also not to be missed on the Jogger case are the recent Voice articles, Marked as the Enemy by Dasun Allah in which the five convicted youths speak and Across 110th Street by Rivka Gewirtz Little, about the changed lives of the families of the five convicted youths.

Government officials are leaking again. This time its about details of the military's interrogation of Ramzi Binalshibh, the roomate of Mohammed Attah who was captured in Pakistan a few months ago.

Officials say Binalshibh has tied Moussaoui to Khalid Sheik Mohammed, alleged to be a senior Al Qaeda leader and a major planner of the 9/11 attacks.

A review of the information provided leads us to conclude that Moussaoui, as he claims, was a member of Al Qaeda but was not involved in the commission of the 9/11 attacks. Still at issue is whether he was involved in their planning.

"Authorities have debated Moussaoui's role in the suicide attacks since Vice President Cheney named him as a possible 20th hijacker a month after the terror strikes. Binalshibh has told investigators that he and [Khalid Sheik]Mohammed ultimately lost confidence in Moussaoui's discretion and decided to use him in the hijack plot only as a last resort, the sources said."

Khalid Sheik Mohammed is still at large. The Government alleges that Moussoui met with him in Afghanistan in the winter of 2000, and Binalshibh supposedly confirms this.

"Binalshibh's disclosures place Moussaoui in direct contact with Mohammed, believed to be al Qaeda's director of operations, who allegedly spent two years planning the terror attacks. Mohammed provided Moussaoui with names of contacts in the United States, and Binalshibh gave him an e-mail address and wired him money to advance the plot, Binalshibh has told interrogators. "

"Binalshibh has told interrogators that he and Mohammed talked by phone in July, and discussed their concerns that Moussaoui was drawing attention to himself, acting in conspicuous ways and talking too much. Mohammed told Binalshibh that he did not have a lot of confidence in Moussaoui and the two decided they would use Moussaoui in the planned hijackings only if they really needed him, and would give him specific instructions at the last minute."

In other words, if Binalshibh is being quoted correctly, and if what he says is true (big "ifs," in our mind), it seems like Moussaoui may have originally been considered for a part in the 9/11 attacks by Mohammed, but his flunking flight school and his talking out of turn made him an undesirable liability to the planners, who decided he would only be used as a last resort. Apparently, they got by without him.

The Government is trying mightily to avoid having to produce Binalshibh for a witness interview with Moussaoui's defense team. Moussaoui has claimed Binalshibh could provide exculpatory information as to him. It seems like the Government is trying to debunk that theory in the media, by putting out details of Binalshibh's alleged interrogation which incriminate, rather than exculpate Moussaoui, at least on the conspiracy charges.

For the conspiracy charges, it is enough if Moussaoui entered an agreement with the others to launch the 9/11 attacks. It wouldn't be necessary for the Governrent to prove Moussaoui actually took part in them, so long as they could prove an "overt act" committed by Moussaoui in furtherance of the unlawful agreement, such as receiving wire transfers of money to be used in the attacks.

But, we're a long way from that point. None of this information is contained in any public court records, just in the media, and it is all being provided by anonymous sources.

A British anti-war group plans legal action against the British Government to stop the War in Iraq unless Britain promises not to particpate if U.N. approval is not granted.

The group, Nuclear Campaign for Disarmament, is relying upon an opinion by a British law firm, Matrix Chambers, of which Prime Minister Tony Blair's wife Cherie is a partner.

"The legal opinion from Matrix lawyers Rabinder Singh and Charlotte Kilroy argues that the resolution agreed by the Security Council on Nov. 7 does not authorize the use of force to disarm Iraq. The resolution is designed to rid Iraq of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs and threatens the country with unspecified "serious consequences" if it fails to cooperate with U.N. weapons inspectors."

"In October, lawyers from Matrix argued both sides of a mock legal inquiry into military action against Iraq. The inquiry chair, Colin Warbrick, ruled that force was unjustified without a new U.N. resolution."

Via Atrios, the nine who voted against the Homeland Security Bill:

Akaka (D-HI)
Byrd (D-WV)
Feingold (D-WI)
Hollings (D-SC)
Inouye (D-HI)
Jeffords (I-VT)
Kennedy (D-MA)
Levin (D-MI)
Sarbanes (D-MD)

Dennis Shedd, a controversial nominee for a judgeship on the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals was confirmed today by the Senate. Shedd is a protege of Republican Strom Thurmond.

"The Senate voted 55-44 to agree to the promotion of U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Shedd to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., despite accusations that the South Carolina federal judge had been insensitive in civil rights and employment discrimination cases. It was the closest vote on a federal appeals court judge since the Democrats took over the Senate in June 2001. They had enough votes to filibuster the nomination and hold confirmation up until next year, senators said, but decided against the action in deference to Thurmond."

The Homeland Security Bill passed the Senate today by a vote of 90 to 9.

By a 52-47 vote, earlier today Senators rejected "a Democratic bid to block provisions that will aid vaccine producers and other industries. That vote came after Republican leaders made last-minute concessions that ensured support from four moderate senators."

The final vote was 90-9.

The Denver Post reports on today's court hearing in the ballot counting case over the new House seat in Colorado, being fought over by Democrat Mike Feeley and Republican Bob Beauprez. Upshot: Feeley wants all the provisional ballots counted and the Judge may rule Wednesday.

Meanwhile, columnist Mike Littwin has a good synopsis of the ballot issues in the lawsuit:

"It's a two-part problem. You start with provisional ballots. These are ballots for people who, for one reason or another, couldn't use a regular ballot, usually because of a registration mix-up. And these ballots are put aside for later counting, which would be, say, now."

"Then you go to the newly formed 7th District, which is spread over three counties. In two counties - Adams and Arapahoe - they followed the state-advised procedure, which was to ask voters to check a box saying why they needed a provisional ballot."

"In Jefferson County, because it's Jefferson County, they went their own way - offering provisional voters a box-free, check-free ballot. No one knows why."

"Once she saw the discrepancy, Davidson ruled all eligible provisional ballots in check-free Jefferson County would be counted - because the voter shouldn't be penalized for the county's mistake. And she ruled that some unchecked ballots in Adams and Arapahoe would be discarded, because an unchecked ballot meant it was the voter's mistake."

"You can see the problem. So, it turns out, could the lawyers. Unlike Florida, this is not a recount. The provisional votes haven't been counted at all. Feeley is trying to get the rules straight before this turns into Florida. And he's trying to get it straight because he's 386 votes behind."

The Democratic-sought amendment to the Homeland Security Bill failed today, much to the delight of Republicans. The bill is now final and appears destined for passage, even in this still democratically-controlled Senate.

"The Senate voted 52-47 to reject an amendment that would have removed from the bill seven provisions that Democrats said were favors to friends of Republicans. The president and his key advisers actively lobbied wavering senators to defeat the amendment, saying its approval could doom passage of the bill this year."

According to Bush's plan, the new agency will combine 170,000 federal workers from 22 existing agencies. It will be " the biggest federal government reorganization since Harry Truman created the Defense Department in 1947."

The bill is H.R. 5005 and you can read the text of it here.The bill creates a new cabinet position to deal with terrorism. Most democrats supported the idea of a new agency, but objected to last minute additions that favored big business, such as one which granted immunity to pharmaceutical companies for side-effects caused by their vaccines.

Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., leading opponent of the legislation, said, "It's the Senate's last chance to show the American people that we are serious about placing some controls on this massive new bureaucracy."

Here is our post on how a last minute addition could bring life in prison to hackers.

We are also dismayed that the Total Information Awareness program (TIA), a creation of retired rear Admiral John Poindexter, is still in the bill. The program, invented by John Poindexter, a rear admiral with a less than sterling record, would create a huge national database of all our personal records, from banking to credit card purchases and more. Poindexter justifies the program as a national security enhancement. We call it an assault on civil liberties.

You can read about the protest letter sent by 30 civil rights organizations to the Senate this week here. A quote from the letter:

"TIA will collect and mine vast amounts of information on the American public, including telephone records, bank records, medical records, and educational and travel data. TIA also proposes to connect with a massive system of biometric identification. There are no systems of oversight or accountability contemplated in the TIA project. DARPA itself has resisted lawful requests for information about the program pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act."

"We urge you to act immediately to stop the development of this unconstitutional system of public surveillance."

U.S. to Target Drugged Drivers

"Expanding beyond efforts to improve highway safety by cracking down on drunken driving, federal officials said Tuesday they will target motorists who drive under the influence of illegal drugs."

"The campaign includes a series of public service announcements to warn motorists of the dangers of taking drugs and then driving, and a program to train police officers to identify motorists who drive under the influence of drugs."

Looks like it might be time to get a TIVO to block out commercials. If Ashcroft gets any busier on the drug front, we may not even have time to blog.

Bernard Webster served over twenty years for a rape he didn't commit.

Bernard Webster is the third person in Maryland and the 115th nationwide to have a conviction overturned by DNA evidence, according to the nonprofit Innocence Project in New York City.

"Webster was 19 when a 47-year-old teacher identified him as the man who broke into her home and raped her in 1982." The recent DNA testing pointed to another man, Daniel Powell, who was arrested for the crime as he walked to work this morning.

"Webster's lawyers said he wasn't entitled to compensation from the state for his time in prison, and he has no family, friends, job or home. He had been scheduled for release in February."

"Two Baltimore-area state senators have pledged that if neither the governor nor the governor-elect takes steps to compensate him, they will push for a bill that pays him for his time behind bars."

One more time, this is why we need Congress and every state to pass the Innocence Protection Act.

Daily Kos lists the pros and cons of each of the known Democratic contenders for the 2004 presidential race, and ranks them.