The Government filed its sentencing statement today in the case of Detroit Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

Abudulmutallab is set for sentencing Feb. 16. Some of the counts he pleaded guilty to carry a mandatory life sentence. The Government says a life sentence is also warranted because he remains committed to martyrdom. It attached the report of Dr. Simon Perry, a criminologist and professor from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and former Israeli police officer/official (for 30 years) to support its position. Interestingly, Perry never interviewed Abdulmutallab. He's based his opinion on FBI debriefings he was not present at, Umar's statements to the court at sentencing, interviews with various people and his knowledge of terrorism and martyrs. [More...]

The cooperation (called "mutual assistance") between U.S. law enforcement and New Zealand is not just one sided. While New Zealand has been doing the bidding of the FBI in the MegaUplad case, it's been a two way street.

New Zealand has a murder case it's been working on for a while(despite the fact that the suspect was killed by a train hours afters after being released from custodial questioning.) It thought the suspect and the dead man may have shared information with "friends" on Facebook. So it asked the U.S. to file court orders getting access to the Facebook messages of the dead man and "suspects" (plural) and "people of interest" in his death.

"Through the assistance of the American Government we went to Facebook and, through their legal processes, we got access to all the Facebook information – which is what helped us. It was of great assistance."

The U.S. did the same for Microsoft hotmail accounts so New Zealand could track down individuals who had contacted the dead man on internet dating sites. [More...]

CNBC has a slideshow of the 12 best federal prisons to do time, as compiled by Alan Ellis, criminal defense attorney and co-author of the “Federal Prison Guidebook.”

The slideshow takes forever to click through, so I'll just list them, along with any unique features Alan notes. CNBC says the list is not in any particular order. For the uninitiated, FPC means Federal Prison Camp (least restrictive), FCI is Federal Correctional Institution and USP is US Prison (most restrictive, except for SuperMax.) [More...]

Mohammed Zazi, father of Najibullah Zazi, the Colorado resident convicted in New York of planning a subway terror attack, was sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison today for obstruction of justice (lying to the FBI), conspiring to destroy his son's chemicals, goggles and paper masks (stored at his brother-in-law's house) and visa fraud. The visa fraud pertained to his falsely stating on on a visa application for his nephew that his nephew was his son. (Zazi came to the U.S. in 1990 and in 2007 became a naturalized U.S. Citizen.)

Prosecutors asked for 30 years, seeking to have him sentenced as a terrorist under the Sentencing Guidelines. The probation department agreed and concluded his guidelines were 360 months to life. Zazi asked for probation.

The judge rejected the request to sentence him as a terrorist. While he told Zazi his lies could have cost a lot of lives, he concluded "He wanted to keep his kid out of jail." [More...]

President Obama's announced accommodation" looks ok to me - women get the contraceptive coverage that good science and public policy require. The perceived need to offer a fig leaf to religions (the insurance companies pay) is grating, but the substance is what matters most.

Planned Parenthood and Catholic Health Association both approve. The bishops are formulating what their objections are. Surely having to pay for contraceptive coverage is not the problem.

Appeasing folks who will never support you seems a fool's errand to me, but I can't object in this case as the substance stays intact. As a larger issue of chasing fool's gold, well, my views on that are a matter of record.

Sorry about the dearth of posting. Really busy time for me.

If I can squeeze some time, I'll write about the reported Obama "accommodation" on contraceptives. My Sunday Daily Kos piece will be on the issue.

Open Thread.

A New Zealand law professor asks which is worse, internet piracy or the privacy breaches of social networks and Google. He compares the MegaUpload alleged copyright violations to the practices of Google and Facebook and concludes the social network privacy intrusions are worse:

The law in both instances determined who gets to profit from the use of information and who does not and in both cases corporate power was able to trump the rights of individuals.

...Google is subject to an array of privacy and other laws. However, with the exception of fair trading laws in the United States, privacy laws globally are considerably weaker that the regimes that protect the rights of intellectual property owners.

[More..]

The FBI released its files on Steve Jobs today. You can read them here.

The 191-page document, released under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), consists of the FBI’s 1991 background investigation of Steve Jobs for an appointed position on the U.S. President’s Export Council. The release also includes documents related to a 1985 investigation of a bomb threat against Apple.

8 states may vote to legalize marijuana this year. Is yours on the list?

Gallup says President Obama's approval ratings are up the past few days to 49%.

From The Nation: A Brief History of Drones.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The House today passed its version of the Stock Act, S. 2038, the "Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012.") Groups like CREW are misguided in complaining that it does not include the Leahy-Cornyn amendment (S. 1483.) It's a good thing that the Leahy-Cornyn Amendment was dropped. It should stay out of the bill when the Senate-House Conference meets.

The Amendment was presented as one that closed loopholes but it is more than that. As the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) wrote in letters to Congress, the Amendment adds a host of unnecessary crimes and increased penalties and effectively overrules two recent Supreme Court decisions. [More...]

It's Hollywood Night on American Idol. I'll be curious to see how it does in ratings, given the strong competition from The Voice. The Voice is more fun to watch. AI seems dated and its contestants amateurish by comparison. Steven Tyler is the main reason I still watch.

Did anyone see Jon Bon Jovi on Person to Person?

Russian arms transporter Viktor Bout lost his bid for a new trial today. But the judge questioned his conditions of confinement, which his lawyers say include solitary confinement,no fresh air or sunlight, one weekly family visit and one phone call a month.

"It seems harsh. It seems brutal. It seems unnecessary. It seems like something should be done about it."

A hearing on the conditions will be held Friday.

What else is going on in the world? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

What do prosecutors do when they realize they've charged a crime they can't prove? Come up with a new charge.

Wayne Tempero, Chief Security Officer for Kim DotCom, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm after the raid on Kim DotCom's compound. The prosecutors said the gun was unlicensed. Tempero has insisted he had a license for the shotgun, as well as for another firearm found on the premises.

Tempero appeared in court today on the unlawful possession of firearms charge and prosecutors dismissed it. But they proceeded to file two new charges, each charging possession of a firearm for unlawful purposes.

When they want you, if they can't get you one way, they just try another. [More...]