Good news for Patricia Spottedcrow of Oklahama, whose travails I described here. The Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Paroles has agreed to early consideration of her parole, possibly in April.

Patricia pleaded guilty and received a 12 year sentence for selling $20 of marijuana to a police informant at the home she shared with her mother and possession of marijuana in the presence of a child. The severity of her sentence caused her case to receive national media attention. Spottedcrow, age 25, has four children, no prior convictions, was broke and had recently lost her home. cently lost her home. The two children present in the home, one of whom was a 10 month old infant, did not witness the transaction according to Patricia. [More...]

The New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill allowing same-sex marriage. The Senate approved the bill last week, so it now goes to Governor Chris Christie, who has said he will veto it.

Both chambers lack the two-thirds majority needed to override a veto by Christie blocking gay marriage, a hot-button social issue that is gaining traction in the 2012 U.S. presidential election campaign.

Same sex marriage is legal in six states: New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Iowa. Washington's governor signed a bill authorizing it on Monday, but it is not yet in effect and may face a voter initiative challenge.

As expected, a federal judge in Detroit today sentenced Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, aka the Underwear Bomber and Captain Underpants, to life in prison for his failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight en route to Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009. Since the federal system has no parole, a life sentence means exactly that.

“The defendant has never expressed doubt or regret or remorse about his mission... “To the contrary, he sees that mission as divinely inspired and a continuing mission.” [Judge Nancy Edmonds] said she can't control his motives, but she can control his opportunity.

She ordered the life sentences to be served consecutively. As he was led out of the courtroom, he said, "G-d is Great."

In Abdulmutallab's statement to the Court, he ranted against Jews (see below for quotes): [More...]

It's becoming clear that the old Republican political Wurlitzer is simply not what it used to be. Check out yesterday's story to circulate - the OMB director gaffedbecause he insisted the Obama Administration had not raised taxes and would not raise taxes on any person earning $250,000 or less. That's a gaffe? In a campaign year? Here's the theory, as transmitted through Politico:

On Wednesday, acting Office of Management and Budget Director Jeffrey Zients appeared to tell the House Budget Committee that the individual mandate isn’t a tax. Which could be a bit of a problem, since the Obama administration is defending the mandate before the Supreme Court by arguing that it is a tax — for legal purposes, anyway.

Oh noes! The ACA is sunk in the Supreme Court now! seems to be the political theory. Needless to say, this will have no effect on what the Supreme Court does. (Hell, I even have a stalwart conservative judge's legal opinion to explain why it does not matter in the legal process.) But in theory, it could matter politically - Republicans are arguing that the Obama Administration will not raise taxes on persons making $250,000 or less. I would think that the Obama Administration would be happy about this. I'm not sure what political purpose it serves Republicans.

Karl Rove must wonder how stupid the people running the GOP Wurlitzer are these days.

A new study by the ACLU has found New York City cops initiated street stops (aka Terry stops, stops and frisks or interrogations) 684,330 times in 2011, an increase of 600% since Bllomberg took office in 2002.

Of the stops, 90% were "completely innocent" (no arrest or summons issued) and 87% were Black or Latino.

Last year alone, the NYPD stopped enough totally innocent New Yorkers to fill Madison Square Garden more than 30 times over,” NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman said. “It is not a crime to walk down the street in New York City, yet every day innocent black and brown New Yorkers are turned into suspects for doing just that. It is a stunning abuse of power that undermines trust between police and the community.”

[More...]

In 2009, North Carolina enacted the Racial Justice Act which requires a judge to convert a death sentence to life in prison without parole if it is later shown that race played a significant role in the conviction or sentence. To make the showing, the Act permits the introduction of statistical evidence.

The defendant doesn't have to prove race caused the verdict, only that it played a significant role, meaning:

...that race weighed heavily in prosecutors' and jurors' decisions concerning the death penalty "in the county, the prosecutorial district, the judicial division, or the State at the time the death sentence was sought or imposed."

Closing arguments concluded yesterday in the first hearing under the Act, which has taken 2 1/2 weeks. The case involves Marcus Reymond Robinson, an African American, who was sentenced to death for killing a 17 year old white man. He is challenging his conviction and sentence, arguing there was racial bias in jury selection and in the criminal justice system.[More...]

Medical marijuana dispensaries are officially out of business today in Fort Collins.

Underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, will be sentenced tomorrow in Detroit for his failed attempt to blow up a plane on Christmas Day. He represented himself and pleaded guilty. At least one count mandates a life sentence. His stand-by counsel is seeking less time, alleging the statute violates the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and the Commerce Clause. He also moved to strike the report of the Government's "martyr" and suicide bombing expert, Simon Perry from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, who has never been qualified by the court in this case as an expert and whose reference materials for his conclusions about future risk of dangerousness were not provided to the defense. Having read Dr. Perry's report (available on PACER and described at length here) I agree the expert's report should not be considered. Plus, excluding it won't make a difference given the mandatory life sentence requirement -- so all the Government is doing is providing Abdulmutallab provide another ground for appeal. [More...]

TMZ is still running articles about Whitney Houston. Today it has a story quoting unnamed sources about how her friends enabled her alcohol use. The conclusion the article wants readers to reach is that Whitney Houston's friends contributed to her death by encouraging her excessive alcohol use. The article ends with:

We know she drank alcohol shortly before her death, and we're told she typically took Xanax -- one of the drugs found in her room -- before a performance to calm her nerves, and she was scheduled to sing at Clive Davis' Grammy party.

But other sources, like Rolling Stone, with quotes from Clive Davis, say Whitney was not scheduled to perform at the party, she was only scheduled to attend.

"She was so looking forward to tonight even though she wasn't scheduled to perform. She loved music, and she loved this night that celebrates music."

[More...]

SOCA, the UK's Serious Organized Crime Agency, has shut down the music file sharing site RnBXexlusive. One person, as yet unnamed but described as a proprietor of the site, was arrested and has made bail. Instead of charging a copyright violation, the UK is charging the proprietor with conspiracy to defraud.

The agency posted a takedown notice on the site. [Heads-Up: When you click, it shows your IP Address, Your Browser, Your Operating System and the time and date you clicked, and says "The above information can be used to identify you and your location.]It contains this warning:

SOCA has the capability to monitor and investigate you, and can inform your internet service provider of these infringements. You may be liable for prosecution and the fact that you have received this message does not preclude you from prosecution.

.... If you have downloaded music using this website you may have committed a criminal offence which carries a maximum penalty of up to 10 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine under UK law.

Despite statements months ago by Pakistan that the wives and children present at the Abouutabad compound the night Osama bin Laden was killed would be released and returned to their home countries, Pakistan is still holding them.

The family of Amal al Sadah, Osama bin Laden's youngest wife who is from Yemen, has petitioned the chief justice of Pakistan to order her and her children's release and return to Yemen. Last October, the Pakistani commission that investigated and interviewed the wives recommended they be sent home.

Al Sadah's brother, who has been in Pakistan waiting to take them home, alleges the children and wives are being kept in poor conditions, deprived of adequate medical care and sunlight and that the children are traumatized and have not been allowed to go to school. [More..]

Update: Conditions at the Honduran prison.

More than 350 inmates at the Comayagua Prison Farm, 45 miles north of the Honduras capital Tegucigalpa, have been trapped and killed in a fire. At least 300 inmates are still missing and presumed dead. Around 475 inmates were able to get out. It is the largest and worst prison fire in Latin American history.

Danilo Orellana, director of the Honduras prison system, told The Associated Press inmates said the fired was started by an inmate who lit his mattress on fire. He said another theory is there was an electrical short. He ruled out claims that a prison riot was to blame. [More...]

Mathias Ortmann, the only MegaUpload defendant besides Kim DotCom who remained in jail, was granted bail today, over objections by the Crown. Ortmann is a German citizen. Germany does not extradite its citizens to the U.S. He was released on home monitoring, and will live with co-defendants Bran van der Kolk and Finn Batato.

The holdup in the decision was that the FBI alleged a $2.5 million discrepancy in his income. Prosecutors said Ortmann earned $14.5 million from MegaUpload between 2005 and 2010, and $2.5 million in 2011. But his accounts show $20.5 million income instead of $17.5 million. The Judge wanted an accounting of the $2.5 million. His lawyer said it came from trading profits.