Bump and Update: It's official. The House approved the Senate Amendments and Colorado is now the first state in the nation to pass laws regulating recreational use, sale, production and taxing of marijuana.

This appears to be the final version of House Bill 1317 setting out the regulations for retail outlets. Tourists will be able to buy 1/4 ounce at a time. You can find all the versions here. The bill will go to Governor Hickenlooper who is expected to sign it into law.

Details on the driving while stoned bill that passed yesterday here.

Katherine Russell, widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, has added New York criminal lawyer Josh Dratel to her legal team.

Excellent choice. He's experienced in terrorism cases and is co-author of the Torture Papers: the Road to Abu Ghraib and The Enemy Combatant Papers: American Justice, the Courts, and the War on Terror.

Others he has represented:

• Australian Guantanamo detainee David Hicks
• Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, who was acquitted in federal court in Idaho in 2004;
• Wadih El-Hage, a defendant in U.S. v. Usama bin Laden, which involved the August 1998 embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania;
• Mohamed Suleiman al-Nalfi, also charged in the Embassy Bombings case.
• Mohamed El-Mezain, a defendant in the federal Holy Land Foundation case
• Attorney Lynne Stewart (in the appeal of her terrorism conviction)

And more leaks from anonymous law enforcement sources about what Dzokhar Tsarnaev told the FBI: Today's leak is that he said Ms. Russell wasn't involved in the bombing.

The Government and Enron defendant Jeffrey Skilling have filed an agreement with the Court for Skilling's sentence to be reduced from 24 years (292 months)to somewhere between 14 and 17 years (168 to 210 months.) He will get credit for the time he served since December 13, 2006. (He may also get another six weeks credit for time spent on home confinement before he reported to prison, but that will be up to the Bureau of Prisons.)

I've uploaded the 7 page agreement here. [More...]

Time has a new report on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's recent trip to Russia. Shorter version: Tamerlan was more radical than his Islamist cousin who is in a protest group. He didn't get radicalized in Russia, he tried to radicalize them. No one listened to him and they tried to dissuade him of his views.

Time reports the distant cousin "has been in jail since April 27 after a brawl with police in northern Dagestan." That's not quite the whole story. According to eyewitnesses, the cousin was part of a wedding party that got stopped by police for having an Islamic flag on the car. Ten members of the party, including the cousin, were beaten by police and arrested. In all, 17 members of the wedding party were charged. They have all been sentenced to "administrative penalties" of between 5 and 10 days in jail. Tamerlan's cousin's detention was extended a few days. [More...]

The ACLU has received a new batch of documents from the Justice Department, FBI and Executive Office of the US Attorney in response to FOIA requests.

New documents from the FBI and U.S. Attorneys’ offices paint a troubling picture of the government’s email surveillance practices. Not only does the FBI claim it can read emails and other electronic communications without a warrant—even after a federal appeals court ruled that doing so violates the Fourth Amendment—but the documents strongly suggest that different U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country are applying conflicting standards to access communications content

You can access the documents at these links:

• 5/8/13 - Documents released by FBI
  
• 5/8/13 - Documents released by EOUSA
  
• 5/8/13 - Documents released by DOJ Criminal Division

Released Last month:

• 4/10/13 – Documents released by IRS
  

ABC reports the parents of Tamerlan Tsarnaev are now considering cremation since Russia is unlikely to accept his body:

[T]he family of Tamarlen Tsarnaev is now considering cremating the body and trying to transport the ashes back to Russia, then burying them. Although cremation is against Islamic law, the parents see it as the only way of burying their son's remains, according to Heda Saratova, a local human rights activist and spokeswoman for the family.

But Russia might not accept the ashes. There are companies in Boston that will do burials at sea -- both of bodies and cremated remains. I wonder if they have called New England Burials at Sea.

Worcester Police Chief Gary J. Gemme held a press conference this morning outside the funeral home that is holding Tamerlan Tsarnaev's body.

Police Chief Gary J. Gemme pleaded today for anyone with authority to provide a burial site for suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

Gemme said Russia is not an option and there are no viable other prospects. Federal and state officials have not been responsive.

The city is spending $10,000. a day for security around the funeral home.

Whose fault is it that Worchester has to spend $10k a day guarding the funeral home? It's not the funeral director's fault. It's not Tamerlan Tsarnaev's fault. The need for security is due to the protesters. No sympathy here.

Azamat Tazhayakov, one of the two students from Kazakhstan charged with obstruction of justice for removing Dzhokhar Tsarnaev's backpack and laptop from his dorm room, has a new lawyer. He is Arkady Bukh from New York. Bukh is reaching out to the media on Twitter offering his commentary (here to Dr. Phil) and exclusive tips on the case. His offer to CNN is here.

Azamat's father, Amir Ismagulov, a wealthy businessman from Kazakhstan is also now in Boston, embarking on a media tour to clear his son. Yesterday, he was filmed paying his respects at the memorial to the victims. He said his son wanted him to go. [More...]

On its 6th try, a bill to outlaw driving while stoned has passed the House and Senate in Colorado. The limit for marijuana: 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood.

But, the bill is the weakest version yet. Instead of 5 nanograms being per se against the law, or even a rebuttable presumption, it's now just a "permissible inference." Blood tests can be refused, although a refusal will result in revocation of driving privileges.

Governor John Hickenlooper is expected to sign the bill into law. The bill is H.R. 1325. Here is the text of the final version.

Two remaining bills are up for final passage tomorrow, the last day of the legislative session. HB 1317 will regulate retail sales of marijuana for recreational use. HB 1318 imposes taxes on marijuana.[More...]

The Department of Justice's latest report on gun violence by the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows a 39% drop in gun murders from 1993 to 2011. Non-fatal gun crimes are down 69%.

In 2011, homicides made up about 2% of all firearm-related crimes. During the same period, gun sales increased. Also, 60% of state inmates charged with gun crimes obtained their guns legally. Only 2% got their guns at a gun show:

60 percent of state prison inmates arrested for a gun-related crime obtained their guns legally: 37 percent from family or friends, 10 percent from a retail or pawn shop and just 2 percent from a gun show or flea market.

The full report is here.

Lawyers for Aurora theater shooting defendant James Holmes notified the Court today Holmes wants to change his plea from Not Guilty to not guilty by reason of insanity.

On March 12, the date set for arraignment, Holmes' lawyers refused to enter a plea for him, so the Judge entered a plea of Not Guilty over their objections.

In an order today, the Judge indicates it's not for certain he'll allow the change of plea. The statute says an insanity plea must be raised at the arraignment. However, it also says that for good cause shown, an insanity plea can be entered at any time prior to trial. [More...]

Long day, spent entirely with sprinkler and air conditioning people. One pipe had a pin leak, the AC unit was really dirty. But what a difference.

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