In a whopping 190 page opinion, a judge in Rhode Island has ruled that the 4th Amendment protects against warrantless seizures of text messages.

The case is State v. Pantino and the full opinion is here. Text messages weren't all the judge tossed, citing a "tsunami of illegal evidence". EFF and law Prof Orrin Kerr participated in the case and the judge especially credits Kerr's analysis: [More...]

The live audience capacity for President Obama's acceptance speech has just dropped from 75,000 to 15,000. The DNC has moved the speech indoors, due to weather concerns. Naysayers are claiming he couldn't fill the 70,000 seat outdoor stadium, the weather is showing only 20% chance of thunderstorms, and the real concern was hecklers.

This is what 84,000 people looked like the night of Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC convention in Denver [More..]:

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks tonight from the Democratic convention. (Added: If you missed it, you can watch here.)

Big Tent Democrat sent along some photos, here's one of the convention hall earlier today.

I'm just getting online today, and haven't caught up with the news, so this is an open thread, all convention related things welcome. [More....]

David Waldman and I are now in Charlotte for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I'll be with Kagro on the Kagro in the Morning show, from 9-10 a.m. ET

Then from 12-2 p.m. ET, catch us on Daily Kos Radio LIVE on the SiriusXM Convention Radio channel. That's channel 123 on Sirius, and channel 142 on XM. We'll also air at the same time on SiriusXM Internet Radio on SiriusXM Left Plus, channel 853. You can even listen in online with a free trial. Listen on your iPhone, iPad or iPod, or your Android-y thing. Want in on the action? You can call the SiriusXM listener line at: 888-971-0896. And if you miss our SiriusXM shows, they'll repeat later in the day, from 4-6 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Wednesday, but on Thursday, just our second hour will repeat, from 5-6 p.m.

The Democratic Convention begins today in Charlotte.

The 2012 Democratic Platform is here.

We have two choices. I'll take this one.

The other choice is below:

I'm off to Charlotte today for the Democratic National Convention. I'll be on Daily Kos Radio (see this for more details), but I will also be recording some sights and sounds and writing a bit. You'll see some of that here, via J.

In the meantime, I think Ryan Lizza's account of the Bill Clinton-Barack Obama relationship believable, but who really knows?

Open Thread.

“In 1968, France was a dangerous place to be for a 21-year-old American, but Mitt Romney was right in the middle of it. - Gloria Borger of CNN, in their "documentary," "Romney Revealed."

Via digby, Tommy Christopher of Mediate lampoons CNN and Gloria Borger:

Yep, in 1968, the brave choice was to avoid the draft and Vietnam and go to France. What in the world has happened to CNN?

Here's the live stream for President Obama's appearance in Boulder today. He is just beginning. "Hello Colorado."

President Obama stopped for breakfast at The Buff restaurant.

Obama ordered the Ole Skillet, which includes red skinned potatoes, chili verde jalapenos, white onions, tomatoes, cheddar cheese and two eggs a with side of toast

Reminds me of when Blagojevich stopped to eat on his way to FCI Englewood.

Obama stayed at the Westin in Westminister last night. Quips from his speech below:

President Obama will be speaking in Boulder today at the University of Colorado. Both Obama and Mitt Romney have addressed the rising cost of college and student loans. Obama's plan:

Obama would let the current $5,550 per year maximum Pell grant increase to $5,635 next year, as scheduled under current law. That figure has grown by more than $900 since 2008 for a program that is the largest source of federal aid for students, serving more than 9 million of them.

• make the American Opportunity tax credit permanent (it was created as part of his 2009 economic stimulus program.) The credit provides up to $2,500 a year per student for college costs but is due to expire Jan. 1.

• Tie some federal aid, including Perkins loans and subsidies for students' work-study jobs, to schools' abilities to curb tuition increases.

Romney says Obama's plans haven't worked. What is his advice? Get a better loan and shop around."

Romney replied that while it might be popular for him to answer that he would provide students with government money, "what I'm going to tell you is shop around."

[More...]

Is a motion by George Zimmerman's lawyers for a gag order on trial witnesses on the horizon?

George Zimmerman's friends, Mark and Sondra Osterman, thought they would help George out by writing a book about his good qualities. The book is scheduled to be released shortly, and the Ostermans are going to be on Dr. Phil the week of September 10 discussing it.

Mark Osterman has been listed as a potential state witness. He accompanied Shellie Zimmerman to the police station the night of the shooting of Trayvon Martin to pick George up when the police were done questioning him. He also drove George to the site of the shooting the next day where police filmed George doing a video re-enactment of his encounter with Trayvon. Osterman, a federal air marshal who used to be a Seminole County deputy sheriff, is featured in the promos for the Dr. Phil appearance as Zimmerman's best friend. [More...]

Lots and lots of games today. Of particular note, Penn State gets a glimpse of the future under Bill O'Brien, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame are in Ireland to play Navy. And the destruction of Michigan by Alabama tonight in Texas. The picks (3-0 yesterday (told you it would be better, 4-3 for the year.):

Navy +14 1/2 over Notre Dame, Marshall +26 over WVa, Ohio +7 over Penn State, Northwestern Pick over Syracuse, Ohio State -25 over Miami of Ohio, Western Michigan +10 over Illinois, Tulsa -1½ over Iowa State, Southern Mississippi +20 over Nebraska, Colorado -6 over Colo St., Auburn +3 over Clemson, North Texas +44 over LSU and last, but not least, Alabama -14 over Michigan (5 units).

Open Thread.

R.I.P., Richard Flor, a 68 year old medical marijuana dispensary owner who has died in federal prison. The story will make you sick.

US District Court Judge Charles Lovell sentenced Flor to to 5 years in federal prison despite testimony that he was suffering from a variety of illnesses, including dementia, diabetes, hepatitis C, and osteoporosis. Lovell did recommend that Flor "be designated for incarceration at a federal medical center" where his "numerous physical and mental diseases and conditions can be evaluated and treated."

Months after beginning his sentence, he still hadn't been transferred to a medical facility. His lawyer described his condition in a brief:

On multiple occasions while in custody, Flor had fallen out of bed breaking his ribs, his clavicle and his cervical bones as well as injuring vertebrae in his spine. Flor also suffered from dementia, diabetes and kidney failure among other ailments,.

Here's what the Judge had to say: [More..]