Law Professor Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit has written a really good column this week for Fox News called Stop in the Name Of 'Bots.

His premise is this: "Nowadays, it seems as if more and more law enforcement is being done by machines. Unfortunately, they don't seem to be up to the job. And the humans don't want to take responsibility, either."

Prof. Reynolds takes off on a variety of snooping methods, from traffic cameras that snap our pictures to catch us in moving violations to the record companies that have software robots crawling the internet to locate copyright infringers to FBI agents using their software robots to roam the internet searching for people who have opened internet files with kiddie porn in them.

We whole-heartedly agree with the Professor that "When the power to enforce the law is delegated to software employed by people who don't -- or can't be bothered to -- understand it, no one is safe."

Go read the whole article, and follow his links, particularly the one to the Wired article on Adam Vaughn, one click you're guilty.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on October 16 on whether federal courts have authority to grant gun rights to felons.

"Although felons may petition the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to restore their right to own firearms, Congress has eliminated the ATF's funding to review such requests. On Oct. 16, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on whether federal courts have the authority to grant gun rights to felons. The case has put gun-rights advocates in the unusual position of disagreeing with John Ashcroft's Justice Department."

[comments now closed]

Accused "shoe bomber" Richard Reid has agreed to plead guilty to all eight counts against him. He said in a pleading filed with the Court that he has no trouble admitting to all of the charged acts except for training in an Al Qaeda training camp. He asked to have that allegation removed.

Reid's lawyer won't say if Reid is cooperating for a reduced sentence.

Update: Reid's decision to plead guilty caught Justice Department prosecutors by surprise. "He did this unilaterally," one official said. "There is no plea agreement. We are prepared to go to trial on Nov. 4."

Prosecutors have now officially opposed Reid's request to strike the Al Qaeda training camp language from the Indictment.

Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow surrendered today on a federal Complaint charging him with securities, mail and wire fraud and money laundering. He was released on a $5 million dollar bond pursuant to an agreement between prosecutors and Fastow's lawyers. The agreement called for Fastow to be released upon posting four parcels of real estate and $3 million in cash as security for the bond.

The criminal complaint was filed along with a civil SEC complaint. According to prosecutors, "The complaint filed by federal prosecutors, along with a civil complaint filed by the Securities & Exchange Commission, makes clear that Enron's strategy of selling ailing assets to the Fastow-controlled entities was intended to help the company "manipulate its balance sheet" and "manufacture sham earnings."

...."The criminal complaint outlines a pattern of "secret agreements" between Fastow and others at Enron that would require Enron to buy back assets sold to LJM if another buyer could not be found. These agreements apparently were kept from Enron's board of directors."

"In addition, it alleges that Fastow and Causey -- although he's not identified by name -- manipulated Enron's balance sheet in a complex transaction that involved back-dating of documents."

We said in a comment to Skippy's post on Fastow today that we think it likely a deal is in the works. Otherwise, the feds woudn't have been so cooperative about letting him surrender and make bail in one day.

After posting that, we learned who is representing Fastow: John Keker of San Francisco and David Gerger of Houston. We don't know Mr. Gerger personally but we do know John Keker through the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and he's a fighter and outstanding trial lawyer as well as a great strategist who often goes to trial--so there may not be a deal inked yet. Add to that Mr. Keker is not a fan of talking to the media, so details may not come out as quickly as they have with other high-profile defendants.

If Fastow does make a deal with the Government, any plea he makes will result in a sentence determined by application of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. For the fraud and the money laundering counts a key variable is the amount of loss. The greater the dollar amount of the loss, the higher the sentence, up to the statutory maximum allowed for each count. The statutory maximums are 20 years on the money laundering counts, ten years on the securities fraud and five years on each of the mail and wire fraud counts.

In order for Fastow to get less time than the guidelines specify for his conduct (taking into account his prior criminal history or lack thereof) he has to cooperate and provide information that assists the Government in the investigation or prosecution of others.

So Fastow is between a rock and a hardplace if he wants to avoid a trial. If he chooses to take a deal, it will be interesting to see how much time he gets chopped off his sentence for cooperating and who he gives up.

Many people in his situation believe they have no choice but to take the deal, particularly if they have young children as Fastow does. They don't want to miss all of their kids' childhoods and they feel a responsibility to get out and resume supporting them as soon as possible. Family loyalty usually wins out over loyalty to co-conspirators.

It didn't used to be this way, not back in the 70's and early 80's. The change began with the enactment of the Federal sentencing guidelines in 1987. That's when the rule came in that the only way to get out from under a stiff sentence mandated by the guidelines was to cooperate with the Government. It's proven to be an effective hammer.

We think it's a terrible system that turns everyone into rats. The system was initially devised to reduce disparities in sentences around the country. What it has done instead is remove judicial discretion from the sentencing decision to where judges do little more than approve or modify the parties' mathematical calculations and rubber stamp the Government's assessment of a defendant's cooperation.

Via Instapundit, the text of the Iraq resolution as it's to be marked up this afternoon is here He got it from Reporter Derek Willis at Congressional Quarterly. The Scoop says it has the support of GOP leaders Hastert and Lott and Democratic leader Gephardt.

Jay Bookman, deputy editorial page editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution lays out Bush's real goal in Iraq and it's not what we've been told.

"This war, should it come, is intended to mark the official emergence of the United States as a full-fledged global empire, seizing sole responsibility and authority as planetary policeman. It would be the culmination of a plan 10 years or more in the making, carried out by those who believe the United States must seize the opportunity for global domination, even if it means becoming the "American imperialists" that our enemies always claimed we were."

"Once that is understood, other mysteries solve themselves. For example, why does the administration seem unconcerned about an exit strategy from Iraq once Saddam is toppled? Because we won't be leaving. Having conquered Iraq, the United States will create permanent military bases in that country from which to dominate the Middle East, including neighboring Iran. "

He bases his conclusion on a report downloadable here called "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century," September 2000 by a group called The Project for the New American Century. Twenty-seven people are listed in the report as having contributed to its preparation. "Among them are six who have since assumed key defense and foreign policy positions in the Bush administration. And the report seems to have become a blueprint for Bush's foreign and defense policy."

Bookman finds further support for his theory in the President's National Security Strategy, available here. This is a document in which each administration outlines its approach to defending the country. The Bush administration released its plan on September 20. Bookman says,

"In essence, it lays out a plan for permanent U.S. military and economic domination of every region on the globe, unfettered by international treaty or concern. And to make that plan a reality, it envisions a stark expansion of our global military presence."

"The United States will require bases and stations within and beyond Western Europe and Northeast Asia," the document warns, "as well as temporary access arrangements for the long-distance deployment of U.S. troops."

Bookman says it was not September 11 that inspired the change of course. Bush's plan appears to be "a blueprint" of the 2000 Report by the Project for the New Century, "a group of conservative interventionists outraged by the thought that the United States might be forfeiting its chance at a global empire."

In turn, the 2000 report acknowledges a debt to a 1992 report by the Defense Department that "also envisioned the United States as a colossus astride the world, imposing its will and keeping world peace through military and economic power. When leaked in final draft form, however, the proposal drew so much criticism that it was hastily withdrawn and repudiated by the first President Bush."

At the time the report was drafted, Richard Cheney was the Secretary of Defense and the primary author was Paul Wolfowitz, who at the time was defense undersecretary for policy. He is now deputy defense secretary.

"Now, more than a decade later, the events of Sept. 11 have given those advocates of empire a new opportunity to press their case with a new president. So in debating whether to invade Iraq, we are really debating the role that the United States will play in the years and decades to come. "

"Are peace and security best achieved by seeking strong alliances and international consensus, led by the United States? Or is it necessary to take a more unilateral approach, accepting and enhancing the global dominance that, according to some, history has thrust upon us?"

Bookman's point seems to be that Bush's plan to invade Iraq has less to do with fighting terrorism than with the view of his father's (and now his) advisors that America has to militarily and economically dominate the world through a global military presence. In other words, we have to become the World Policeman. As one drafter of the 2000 report said, we need to be the equivalent of Gary Cooper in High Noon.

Bookman makes a good point in reminding us that this was not one of the platforms Bush II ran on or that the people were either informed about or voted on. "The American people have never been comfortable with themselves as a New Rome."

Hopefully Bookman's theory will be raised in the Senate and vigorously debated.

(Thanks to Vodkapundit for leading us to Bookman's article).

Rittenhouse has the Ira Einhorn update for today. He's not impressed with the defense, in fact, he's offended by it. One witness described it yesterday after her testimony as "homophobic misogyny."

The National Symposium on Felony Disenfranchisment, sponsored by The Sentencing Project, has been meeting the past two days in Washington in an effort to find ways to ease voting restrictions on those with felony criminal records.

The group estimates that "a half-millon people with a felony conviction will be allowed to vote in this November's elections as a result of changes in state laws over the past five years." The group is advocating that even more ex-convicts and inmates be allowed to cast ballots.

Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, and Texas are the latest states to make some positive changes. The group says this reflects an increasing recognition among policymakers that the voting rights of all citizens are essential in a democracy. In the past two years, Delaware and Maryland have substantially scaled back their lifetime voting bans and New Mexico repealed its prohibition entirely.

According to Marc Mauer, assistant director of The Sentencing Project and the author of Race to Incarcerate, all states except Maine and Vermont strip felons of their voting rights for some period of time. Most prohibit voting while in prison and 32 restrict voting on probation and/or. Florida is one of only 8 states that deny voting rights for life to all ex-felons.

The group says it has obtained figures from the Department of Justice showing that 3.9 million felons are currently or permanently disenfranchised. That's a lot of potential votes--enough to affect the outcome of an election.

The Symposium Program for this week's meeting shows that participants are learning that:

Clarence Page joins us and many others who see the Central Park Jogger case as a prime example of the wisdom of requiring police to videotape the interrogations of suspects as well as their confessions.

"After all, if the police are speaking truthfully when they say they used no unfair coercion, the tape would show it. A judge and jury would be impressed. The complainants would have no case."

"That's the side of the videotape argument that gets too little attention. While videotape acts to protect the rights of defendants, it also helps protect police and the prosecution's case from charges like coercion that sometimes sway jurors to decide against an otherwise solid case."

As we've said before, videotaping is clearly the most recommended remedy to police misconduct.

Videotaping leads to real improvements in police interrogation practices that protect the rights of suspects. Officers now know that everything they do in the interrogation room could be viewed one day in a courtroom.

Videotaping interrogations and arrests is good for the police too. It protects them against baseless claims of coercing a confession or violating a suspect's constitutional rights. Frivolous claims by suspects will diminish once they know that judges and jurors can see the interview and decide for themselves whether detectives intimidated the suspect.

Police and prosecutors have little to fear from a requirement to videotape all interrogations and traffic stops. It's a win-win situation. Videotaping can protect the innocent, help convict the guilty and uphold the public's faith in our criminal justice system.

On Tuesday, the U.S. fully implemented its controversial program of requiring visitors from certain countries to register and be fingerprinted.

"The U.S. government will fingerprint, photograph and register tens of thousands of foreign visitors in an anti-terrorism policy that has angered Arab groups and some nations."

"The program was launched in part on Sept. 11, a year after the attacks on New York and Washington and put fully into effect around the world on Tuesday, with immigration officials focusing on citizens of certain countries or those who fit a specific profile. They include nationals of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria, five countries designated by the United States as 'state sponsors of terrorism,' " according to Justice Department spokesman Jorge Martinez.

"The new program, announced by Attorney General John Ashcroft in June, outraged lawmakers and Arab and rights groups in the United States."

A memo from the I.N.S. last month said the program would apply to "all people who have made unexplained trips to the five 'state sponsors of terrorism' or to North Korea, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Egypt, Somalia, Pakistan, Indonesia or Malaysia."

And this is just the beginning of a larger program which intends to have all foreign visitors registered by 2005.

On Frank Lautenberg as a replacement candidate for Torricelli:

"Lautenberg is a supporter of abortion rights and staunch opponent of the death penalty."

Let's get him in there!

James Ujaama, the man prosecutors allege tried to set up an Al Qaeda training camp in Bly, Oregon was denied bail today at a hearing in Seattle.

Ujaama has a lot of family support in both Denver and Seattle. His mother and aunt offered to put up their homes for bail but the Court refused, saying it wouldn't assure he wouldn't flee the country before his trial. Ujaama previously worked as an anti-drug crusader and community activist in Seattle, a fact the Judge today acknowledged before stating, "He was a fine citizen over those years but people change.''

Ujaama was arrested in Denver on July 22 on a material witness warrant. He was transferred to Virginia around July 29 and held there until an Indictment for providing material resources to a terrorist organization was returned against him in Seattle. He was then moved to Seattle.

Ujaama was born in Denver as James Thompson. He moved with his family to Seattle when he was 5. His aunt was formerly married to Mayor Wellington Webb's son. The Mayor was unhappy when the Rocky Mountain News printed the connection. But News publisher John Temple thought it was relevant reporting because "the raid occurred in a home now maintained by the ex-wife of the mayor's son, Allen Sr." and because the mayor's 15 year old granddaughter Jamie, cousin to James Ujaama, was in the house at the time police surrounded it to make the arrest. The neighbors reported that Jamie ran out of the house hysterical, claiming that the police had put a gun to her head, which the police have denied. (Rocky Mountain News, July 27)

Before his Indictment, The Rocky Mountain News reported that Ujaama's Denver lawyer confirmed the feds had been considering providing him with immunity at one point. It isn't known why they changed their minds and decided to prosecute him instead.