The Justice Department today announced the filing of its civil rights lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his department for engaging in racial profiling of Latinos. The New York Times has more, and background is here.

The Justice Department's December, 2011 report finding systemic profiling is here.

The Government will rest its case against John Edwards today. According to the Charlotte Observer, the final three witnesses will be law enforcement officers. According to another account, one of the final witnesses will be Leo H. Hindery, Jr., a Democratic power player and former cable magnate who became the Edwards campaign's senior economic policy advisor in June, 2007. Hindery switched his support to Obama after Edwards dropped out,

What would he testify to? Possibly that Edwards' was interested in being Attorney General if Obama won the election. From Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (Saint Elizabeth and the Ego Monster): [More...]

The President surprised me yesterday. Not about what was in his heart. I was confident about that. But in a reelection year, I did not expect the President to say what he said. Yesterday, I commented "I'm not at all sure this was the smart political play. I'm pretty sure I think it isn't. I can not imagine how we can not give him tremendous credit for this." I know I do.

It reminded me also of this:

Yesterday, no laws were passed. But it got better.

President Obama supported gay marriage today.

Obama's fundraiser at George Clooney's home could raise $15 million -- or not.

The event at Clooney's Studio City home is being organized by DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and is expected to lure guests including Barbra Streisand, Robert Downey Jr. and producer Susan Downey, J.J. Abrams, CAA's Bryan Lourd and ICM's Chris Silbermann.

The Justice Department is going to sue Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his office office for civil rights violations due to the racial profiling of Latinos. [More...]

Update: The Government won't call Rielle Hunter at all. It will rest tomorrow.

The judge in the John Edwards trial read today's list of witnesses in court this morning. There are six, not including speechwriter Wendy Button who resumed testifying this morning. Rielle Hunter was not on the list. The Government has said it expects to wrap up its case tomorrow.

The Government could, of course, call Hunter tomorrow -- even close its case with her . There would be a certain symmetry to that -- opening with Andrew Young and closing with Rielle Hunter.

I think it's too dangerous for the Government. I gave my theories here which I think are still valid. [More...]

The AQAP would-be bomber was a pretend bomber after all -- a CIA informant.

Republican Senator Richard Lugar is out in Indiana, losing in today's primary to his "tea-party" backed challenger, State Treasurer Richard Mourdock. I'm not sorry to see him go.

George Zimmerman waived his right to speedy trial today. The hearing took less than 30 seconds and neither the lawyers nor Zimmerman appeared. The next hearing is set for August 8, and that's for scheduling matters. There's no date set yet for release of discovery.

Who will win The Voice tonight? Even though I didn't care much for the show or contestants this year, I hope it's Juliet Sims.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

I'm off to the jail today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Former Edwards campaign supporter and contributor Tim Toben was back on the stand today in the John Edwards trial. Most of the media reports I've seen don't mention the close friendship between Toben and Andrew Young.

From the acknowledgement section (page xii)of Andrew Young's book, The Politician:

To Tim Toben, I love you brother. And I love Megan and your family like my own.

Young described Toben as "the one Chapel Hill friend who still spoke to me." (p. 261.) [More...]

The CIA says it thwarted a planned attack on a commerical airliner by al Qaeda Arabian Penisula (AQAP) in Yemen. They say it was more sophisticated than the Underwear Bomber's device.

The FBI is conducting tests on the device. It may have been made by AQAP bomb-maker Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri.

The bomb had not been picked up by the would-be suicide bomber who was to do the attack. A target had not even been selected.

The would-be suicide bomber, based in Yemen, had not yet picked a target or bought a plane ticket when the CIA stepped in and seized the bomb, officials said. It's not immediately clear what happened to the alleged bomber.

Did the suicide bomber get cold feet and go to the authorities? CBS reports:

The would-be suicide bomber was told to buy a ticket on the airliner of his choosing and decide the timing of the attack. It's not immediately clear what happened to the would-be bomber, the AP reported.

Bunny Mellon's lawyer, Alexander Forger, put some serious dents in the Government's case today.

"She liked him as an individual, as a person. It wasn't because he was running for president," he testified. "If he wanted to be president of Duke University, she would have supported that...."One of her basic values is loyalty as a friend," he continued.

[More...]

In what appears to be a first nationally, a malpractice insurance carrier has refused to renew Denver lawyer Ann Toney's policy because she advises medical marijuana businesses.

In its terse notice, the Hanover Insurance Group explained that Toney's practice "does not meet current underwriting guidelines because of the following risk factors: Area of practice involving medical marijuana."

At balkinization, Jack Balkin points to his Atlantic article in which he discusses a 1950 taxing power case that seems clinching to me with regard to whether the individual mandate penalty is constitutional as a valid exercise of Congress' taxing power. I'm surprised it was not discussed more (and feel remiss in not having discussed it myself.) Balkin writes:

It also doesn't matter that the real purpose of the tax is to regulate behavior. Lots of taxes are designed to do just that -- think about taxes on polluters as an example -- and federal taxes on drugs are designed to keep people from buying or selling them. In 1950, the Court upheld a tax on marijuana, explaining that "a tax does not cease to be valid merely because it regulates, discourages, or even definitely deters the activities taxed. The principle applies even though the revenue obtained is obviously negligible . . . or the revenue purpose of the tax may be secondary." "Nor does a tax statute necessarily fall," the Court added, "because it touches on activities which Congress might not otherwise regulate" under its other enumerated powers. So even if the mandate is beyond the commerce power, it can still be a constitutional exercise of the power to tax and spend for the general welfare.

The 1950 case Balkin is referring to is U.S. v. Sanchez: