To the East Cost Power Companies, who are trying to restore power to thousands or millions from last nights blizzard Nemo on the East Coast"

"Can't start a fire without a spark."

Here's hoping they get it turned back on soon. Living in the dark is fun at night-- not so much in the day. [More...]

The blizzard is now being referred to as "Nemo."

Jesse Jackson, Jr. reportedly has a plea deal that may include up to 5 years in prison. He can ask the judge for probation or any lesser term. He's expected to plead guilty to one felony count of misuse of campaign funds.

I'll be in court the rest of the day, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Keith Stroup, the founder of NORML, has a new book, in which he provides a history of NORML's 40 year campaign to legalize marijuana. You can order a copy here ($15.00)

Willie Nelson wrote the prologue. The book begins with Hunter Thompson and the 1972 Democratic convention. There are stories about many familiar people, as well as a thorough legislative history --and a lot about criminal defense lawyers (Keith was the Executive Director of NACDL for five years beginning in 1989, which is where I first met and became friends with him). [More...]

Sending good thoughts to all in the path of the blizzard about to hit the East Coast.

If you are there, please keep us updated and let us know how you are doing. And don't forget to get candles. To remind you, here's "Light My Candle" from the final performance of "Rent."

Open thread time, all topics welcome.

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence will hold a hearing at 2:30 pm ET today on the nomination of John Brennan as CIA Director.

Yesterday, President Obama announced that the Office of Legal Counsel's targeted kill memo(s) will be provided to the members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees.

Brennan's answers to pre-hearing questions are here. His answers pertaining to rendition, detention and interrogation begin on page 21.

Brennan, who is expected to be confirmed, will face some tough questioning, especially by Democrats. [More...]

Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) has introduced a bill to remove marijuana from the Controlled Substances Act and allow states to decide whether to legalize it. The DEA would no longer have control of marijuana policy. Instead, the ATF would assume control. The ATF would be renamed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Marijuana and Firearms. The bill is the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act. Polis' fact sheet on the bill is here.

A comprehensive report on the CIA's extraordinary rendition and secret detention programs under GW Bush was released this week by the Open Justice Society. The full report, Globalizing Torture, is here. It documents 136 individual cases and the participation of 54 countries in the two programs. On a related note, law prof Jonathan Hafetz discusses the "proxy detentions" of terror suspects in Djibouti and extradition to the U.S. to face criminal trials under Obama's administration.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The video of the hour long hearing in the George Zimmerman case today is here. As multiple news agencies report, the judge denied the defense request for a continuance.

Additional matters that were addressed: Martin family lawyer Benjamin Crump filed a 15 page affidavit about his telephone interview with Witness 8, Trayvon's phone friend who was on the phone with him before the shooting. Crump's lawyer addressed the court, asking that Crump's deposition be postponed until the Court had time to review the Affidavit. [More...]

Anonymous hacked the Department of Energy last month, the agency confirmed. No classified info was taken, just personal data. There are also claims that Anonymous is responsible the release of 4,000 bank executives' data today, as part of Operation Last Resort. But the database posted as the U.S. Sentencing Commission's data may not have been a fake. Anyone can claim to be Anonymous.

There's a hearing tomorrow morning in the George Zimmerman case. Here are the motions that will be addressed. His family won't be attending, but his supporters will be singing "Happy Birthday Travyon" in front of the courthouse. (Trayvon would have turned 18 tomorrow.)

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Via Michael Isikoff at NBC News, here is the 16 page DOJ white paper titled "Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al Qa’ida or An Associated Force." Isikoff writes:

It concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be “senior operational leaders” of al-Qaida or “an associated force” -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.

The paper has an expanded definition of threat. [More...]

The highest court in Italy has reversed a lower court's decision to acquit three CIA agents for their conduct in a 2003 extraordinary rendition case. This brings the number of Americans convicted for participating in the CIA's torture program to 26. The court also increased the sentences of some of those convicted earlier, from 5 to 7 years.

Among those sentenced: Former Rome CIA Station Chief Jeff Castelli who received a sentence of 7 years. The former CIA Station Chief in Milan, Robert Lady, had his sentence increased to 9 years, which makes him eligible for extradition. [More...]

The New York Times had an op-ed this weekend, Why Police Lie Under Oath. The article quotes Peter Keane, a former San Francisco Police commissioner, who wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle:

Police officer perjury in court to justify illegal dope searches is commonplace. One of the dirty little not-so-secret secrets of the criminal justice system is undercover narcotics officers intentionally lying under oath. It is a perversion of the American justice system that strikes directly at the rule of law. Yet it is the routine way of doing business in courtrooms everywhere in America.”

Why do they do it? [More...]