Here is the latest on the interrogation of 17 year-old accused sniper John Malvo from the Washington Post:

"Yesterday's hearings were brief and largely procedural but set off the legal sparring that probably will continue for months as the prosecutions begin in one of the highest-profile crimes the Washington area has seen."

"Lawyer Todd G. Petit, who was appointed Malvo's guardian ad litem, a standard process for a juvenile whose parents are not available, said he was denied access to the teenager. Ninety minutes after he was named guardian, Petit said, he learned that Malvo was being interrogated at police headquarters."

"I told the officer I wanted all questioning to stop," Petit said. A police commander came down, took Petit's card and said he would relay the request "when I see them," Petit said, and ordered him out of the building."

"Petit said he went to Horan's office but was told that Horan was in a meeting and that the office was closed." "I asked to speak to my ward, and they refused to let me do so," Petit said."

Legal experts are already predicting trouble for the prosecution in relying upon Virginia's terrorism law to avoid their having to prove the identity of the triggerman in each murder.

Our opinion, which we expect to provide on Fox News Channel today around 5:30 pm eastern time, is that this is forum shopping at its worst and Virginia may not be the "safe haven" for the death penalty the Justice Department expects it to be.

The prosecution, law enforcement and the Justice Department, aided by the media, are leaking purported factual evidence like a sieve. It will become impossible to seat a fair jury in Virginia or Maryland.

We were heartened to see that the Judge did not wait until next Weds. to appoint counsel for Muhammed, as had previously been reported. But both he and Malvo should have been able to meet with their new counsel immediately upon arriving at the jail in Virginia.

Instapundit updates our Rave post yesterday with news that a Judge in Traverse City, Michigan is on leave after being observed smoking a joint at a Rolling Stones concert.

This is a good illustration of why, overwhelmingly, it is pro-prosecution, pro-law enforcement type lawyers who apply to be judges.

So many defense lawyers are loathe to put themselves under the glare of the public spotlight. This is not to say that all defense lawyers smoke or have smoked pot. Just that they are more likely to have lived a part of their life on the edge, and don't need the aggravation or humiliation of having it come to the public's attention.

It is beyond shameful that this country can't progress to a point where suitability for public office, including judgeships, is determined upon the basis of knowledge and skills, combined with a desire to contribute to the public good, rather than personal moral traits and actions that are so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.

Eric Alterman's new column in the Nation is Bush Lies, Media Swallows. He asks you to ask yourselves, "who is being served when the media allow Bush to lie, repeatedly, with impunity, in order to take the nation into war?" As examples of Bush's lies, Eric points to these:

"Most particularly he has consistently lied about Iraq's nuclear capabilities as well as its missile-delivery capabilities. .... To cite just two particularly egregious examples, Bush tried to frighten Americans by claiming that Iraq possesses a fleet of unmanned aircraft that could be used "for missions targeting the United States." Previously he insisted that a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency revealed the Iraqis to be "six months away from developing a weapon." Both of these statements are false, but they are working. Nearly three-quarters of Americans surveyed think that Saddam is currently helping Al Qaeda; 71 percent think it is likely he was personally involved in the 9/11 attacks."

European Anti - War protestors streamed through Florence earlier today.

"More than 450,000 anti-war protesters from across Europe marched through this Italian Renaissance city on Saturday, denouncing any U.S. plans to attack Iraq."

"Fired with anti-American sentiment and angered by a tough new U.N. resolution to disarm Iraq, European activists joined forces in a carnival atmosphere and marched together singing Communist anthems and blowing shrill whistles. ``Take your war and go to hell,'' one of the colorful banners read. ``No to war,'' said another."

"The rally marked the climax of the first European Social Forum, which brought together anti-globalisation campaigners from across the continent for four days of talks and concerts."

"Authorities estimated more than 450,000 protesters were on the streets, and people were still streaming in from a fleet of buses and trains hired for the occasion. Organizers said the crowd could swell to more than a million people, making it one of the biggest rallies ever seen in Italy."

``The atmosphere here is wonderful. Absolutely perfect. It shows that a new young left is emerging,'' said Stavos Valsamis, a 27-year-old Greek activist from Athens."

We hope so.

We were on our daily rounds, reading Atrios, when we saw his link to Eric Alterman's new book What Liberal Media? due to be published in February, 2003. We followed the link to Amazon, and learned that:

"Customers who shopped for this item also wear:
Clean Underwear from Amazon's Eddie Bauer Store
Ladybug Rain Boots from Amazon's Nordstrom Store
Suede Headwraps from Amazon's International Male Store
Cheetah Print Slippers from Amazon's Old Navy Store"

The Department of Justice authorization procedures for seeking the death penalty in any case are set forth in section 9-10.000 of the United States Attorney's Manual.

"Promulgated in early 1995, the Department of Justice Death Penalty Guidelines and Procedures are intended to set forth the criteria to be utilized by local United States Attorneys and the DOJ in deciding whether to seek the imposition of the death penalty under federal law. The procedures also outline certain procedural steps to which United States Attorneys and Main Justice are supposed to adhere in considering death penalty authorization requests."

"The following is a summary of the Department of Justice policy and procedures in all federal cases in which a defendant is charged with an offense subject to the death penalty, regardless of whether the United States Attorney intends to request authorization to seek the death penalty." [Source, An Overview of the Federal Death Penalty Process , by Dick Burr, David Bruck & Kevin McNally]

17 year old sniper suspect John Malvo has a new lawyer, Michael Arif. Mr. Arif Friday stated that Fairfax County police investigators "tried to question Mr. Malvo for seven hours on Thursday night without the presence of any lawyer for him." Obviously, Arif wasn't appointed to represent Malvo until Friday and couldn't have been at the jail Thursday evening to prevent the attempted questioning.

The judge ordered Malvo to be housed in an adult jail pending a decision on whether he will be tried as an adult or a juvenile. This isn't right. You don't throw a juvenile into the adult jail population before he's been ordered transferred to adult court. They should have put Malvo in protective custody for his own safety in the juvenile facility. (Just like they do with cops who get in trouble). Why is Virginia purposefully throwing this teen to the wolves?

The media seems to find something unusual in older suspect John Muhammed's confusion in court Friday about his lawyer or lack thereof. Who wouldn't be confused?

"Mr. Muhammad appeared confused when Judge Herman A. Whisenant Jr. asked whether he wanted the court to appoint counsel."

"I thought I already had counsel," Mr. Muhammad said, referring to a federal public defender in Maryland who had been representing him before Mr. Ashcroft's order that he be transferred to Virginia."

"Judge Whisenant explained that Mr. Muhammad would need a new lawyer to represent him against the charges brought by Virginia."

"I don't know what to say, sir," Mr. Muhammad replied."

Muhammed was sitting in a jail in Maryland, represented by counsel who had told the federal authorities he didn't want to be questioned, as is his right. Without advance notice to Muhammed, the feds abruptly transfer him to Virgina state custody. We strongly suspect his lawyer was not allowed to meet with him before he left and thus could not tell Muhammed the feds had dropped their charges which meant he couldn't continue on as Muhammed's lawyer. It's entirely likely the lawyer wasn't even told of the transfer in custody until after it occurred.

So how is Muhammed supposed to know that by the feds dropping their charges against him, and agreeing to ship him to state custody in Virginia, that he no longer had a lawyer, or that the same lawyer could not represent him in Virginia? Not one of our clients would have known that.

As for him appearing disheveled, we wouldn't be surprised if he didn't get much sleep. Like Malvo, Muhammed was probably subjected to hours of attempted interrogation, without an adequate explanation of what was happening to him. We also wouldn't be surpised if they kept the bright lights on him all night so he couldn't sleep.

"Judge Whisenant said he would appoint a lawyer at a brief hearing next Wednesday." This amazes us. He should have been given a new lawyer immediately. They should have had one waiting to meet him at the Virginia jail when he arrived. The prosecutors knew he was coming. They should have told the judge who should have appointed counsel at that moment. How could they leave a man charged with the most heinous crime of the year in jail for five days without a lawyer?

The cops will be working on Muhammed every day. Even if he says he wants a lawyer, the cops will tell him no, he doesn't get one before Wednesday. They'll leave those lights on him, sleep-deprive him and hope he agrees to talk.

This is not how the American justice system is supposed to work. You don't bring charges based upon which jurisdiction is most likely to kill the offender upon conviction. You don't let suspects sit for days without lawyers. You don't let the Government and state prosecutors leak evidence to the media that should only come out at a trial.

We are not defending the sniper attacks. We find them as abhorrent as everyone else. Whoever committed them needs to be kept away from society. But we need to do it fairly and this isn't the way.

From the Drug Policy Alliance News section:

"Racine police raided a non-profit fundraising event that featured electronic music last Saturday where they arrested three people on drug charges and wrote $430,760 worth of questionable citations. A prepared police statement said: "Based on information from the U.S. Customs Service, undercover officers went through the Haunted Theater (Uptown Theater) at 1430 Washington Ave. After the very brief tour, officers were directed to the basement of Tradewinds Village, 1518 Washington Ave., for the party. There they bought Ecstasy and Ketamine." Although only three arrests were made, police issued citations to 445 attendees with a penalty of $968 each for being "patrons of a disorderly house."

"The crowd was young, between about 17 and 25, said Sgt. William Macemon, public information officer for the Racine Police Department. According to witnesses, police cars and wagons came from every direction to surround the front and back entrances of the Tradewinds Banquet Hall. People outside were forcibly thrown to the ground, hand cuffed, and detained. The front and back entrances were sealed off. Meanwhile, inside, a representative from Dancesafe was forcibly thrown down on a pool table. One of the DJ's was using the bathroom when the police came in with guns drawn. A gun was pointed at the head of the DJ for almost a half hour. The group that organized the fundraiser is encouraging the hundreds of partygoers who were ticketed to contact the American Civil Liberties Union."

More information is available here.

To take action against attacks on raves, go here.

The San Francisco Chronicle endorses Nancy Pelosi for House Democratic Leader because she has the courage to be different:

"Democrats must not be afraid to make the case against a rush to war, ill- advised tax cuts, assaults on the environment or other Bush initiatives that many centrist Americans might oppose -- if the president's policies were exposed to full and vigorous debate. Nancy Pelosi the right leader for this critical challenge."

The political rumor of the day for Arkansas in 2004, received from an unaffiliated Arkansas Voter:

"Watch for Asa Hutchinson to maybe run for the Senate in '04 against Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln. His brother apparently may be considered inelectable because he trailed the Republican Governor by 10%+ in heavily Republican counties while losing big in Democratic south and east Arkansas, showing what some called the "hypocrisy factor" (running on "family values" vs. divorcing his wife of 29 years and marrying his intern (and maybe the impeachment vote all the while, but we're not sure)) cost him dearly with moderates Republicans. Attorney General Pryor is also a religious sort, and he apparently picked up the fallout."

"Governor Huckabee was just reelected to a 4 year term. When Lt. Gov. Huckabee became governor in '7/96 because of the Governor's resignation, he had two tractor trailer loads of "Huckabee for Senate" signs he paid $350K for that had just arrived in Arkansas. [The history: He resigned the Republican Senate nomination to be Governor until the '98 election (which he won). The Republican Party had a convention, and T. Hutchinson resigned his House nomination (as an incumbent) to run for the Senate, which he won. A. Hutchinson was then nominated for the House seat, which he won. He resigned from that to be head of the DEA. That seat has been in Republican hands for over 40 years.]"

"Maybe Huckabee still has the signs, and he has a free shot at Lincoln in '04. The Republican Party will have to decide between Asa and Huckabee. It will be a tough race for Lincoln, I'm afraid."

Imagine the head of the DEA being in the U.S. Senate from 2005-2011 when Bush gets re-elected, since the Democrats can't come up with a viable candidate to beat him"

Attorney General John Ashcroft held a news conference Thursday to tell us it's a done deal. The state of Virginia will get first shot at trying to kill accused snipers John Muhammed and John Malvo. The feds have dropped their charges.

Here's what John Ashccroft, the man who runs our "Justice" Department, does Thursday. He drops the federal charges against the accused snipers so that they no longer have a right to their federally appointed counsel who can refuse to allow them to be interrogated in their absence. He arranges for the two to be charged in separate capital cases in different Virginia counties and separately driven to a Virginia county jail. Because they are not yet represented by state defenders, the cops are allowed to interrogate them at will.

He calls a news conference but won't tell us why he charged the two suspects in separate cases with separate killings or why he is using multiple legal theories. He bypasses Maryland, the state that suffered the most, in favor of Virginia, the state most likely to extract the ultimate penalty--death. He declares that the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for them, even though they haven't yet had a trial or been found guilty and even though one is only 17. His message is: Malvo may not be old enough to vote, get married, drink alcohol or own real estate, but he's old enough to be killed.

Justice occurs when we provide the accused with a fair trial, competent counsel and strict adherence to their consitutional rights. Injustice occurs when we allow passion and prejudice to override the guarantees of fairness our system provides to even the worst offender among us.

John Ashcroft is not running the Department of Justice but a Department of Injustice.

The incoming Governor of Illinois, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, who beat Attorney General Jim Ryan (unrelated to outgoing Governor George Ryan) in Tuesday's election, will keep the moratorium on the death penalty , "at least until the Legislature addresses problems pointed out by the death penalty commission."

The Illinois Death Penalty Commission recommended 85 reforms to reduce the unfairness in the application of the death penalty in Illinois, none of which have been implemented by the state legislature.