After criticizing Rick Perry for being "insensitive" regarding the name of a ranch apparently owned by Perry, Herman Cain, the African American former Godfather's Pizza honcho came to understand that the only acceptable claims of racial insensitivity from African Americans can be made against Democrats:

I think that Herman Cain hurts himself by joining in on these attacks. His big appeal is that he’s not just another black race-card-playing politician. Climbing on board with the Post’s hit piece suggests that actually, he is.

Cain has learned his lesson:

Medical marijuana is legal in Colorado, as the result of a constitutional amendment passed in 2000. In 2005, Denver passed an ordinance legalizing adult possession of up to an ounce of medical marijuana. Because the state has not followed suit, and still criminalizes non-medical possession by a $100 fine, in 2007, Denver passed an ordinance designating private adult marijuana possession the city's "lowest law enforcement priority." A city panel was to be created to ensure the ordinance was implemented "to the greatest extent possible."

Papa John's is a local pizza delivery company. On Friday night, a customer who lived in Aurora, a city next to Denver, ordered a pizza from Papa Johns. The delivery guy called the police after dropping off the pizza because he smelled marijuana at the house. The delivery guy said he was concerned because the man's daughter was in the house.

The customer had a valid medical marijuana card. The Aurora police came to his house on a child welfare check. They searched his house. No charges were filed. Papa John's says their delivery guy did the right thing. [More...]

The trial of Umar Farouk Umadullatab, charged with a failed attempt to bring down an airline en route to Detroit on Christmas Day, begins tomorrow.

The Superseding Indictment is here. All of our coverage is assembled here.

Abdulmutallab is representing himself, with the assistance of standby counsel Anthony Chambers. I wonder how he'll do at cross-examining witnesses. "F. Lee Underpants" for the defense?

Will a conviction on all counts and a life sentence cause Republicans to admit that terror suspects can be successfully prosecuted in federal court? Don't hold your breath. [More...]

The ACLU has obtained a chart from the Department of Justice showing what types of records the major cell phone carriers keep and for how long. The chart is here. It was prepared for law enforcement to assist them in obtaining cell phone records.

The ACLU filed 381 requests in 32 states with local law enforcement agencies in an attempt to determine when, why and how they are using cell phone location data to track Americans.

Here's a map where you can click on your state to learn more. Here's why it's a problem. [More..]

I usually like the Daily Mail reporting despite its tabloid nature. It also has good photos. Today it made a big misstep. Via Gawker and Malcolm Coles: In its hurry to be first reporting the Amanda Knox verdict, the Daily Mail got it wrong, and hit the "publish" button on a pre-written article pronouncing Knox guilty. The article even included reaction quotes from the prosecution.

Prosecutors were delighted with the verdict and said that 'justice has been done' although they said on a 'human factor it was sad two young people would be spending years in jail'.

Here's a screen grab of the article, which the Daily Mail corrected minutes later.

Update: Amanda Knox's nightmare is over. She's free. Her murder conviction is overturned. Only the slander charge against police was upheld. Raffaele Sollecito was also freed. Here's Amanda listening to the verdict, after the verdict is announced, being led out of court, and the crowd outside which was cheering. One half hour later, they are still outside. Amanda will soon leave this prison.

Update: 1:45 pm: Amanda is seated now. She looks as nervous as she must feel. She's surrounded by police. [More...]

Here's Johnny Cochran: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit...." (4 min. 30 seconds in). Another great line: "They allowed this investigation to be infected by a dishonest and corrupt detective."

You can watch OJ try on the gloves here.

Open thread.

Aside from has-been Dick Cheney spouting off, what else is going on today? All but 20 of the 700 arrested yesterday during the Occupy Wall Street protest have been released.

Don't miss Prohibition tonight on PBS.

PROHIBITION is a three-part, five-and-a-half-hour documentary film series directed by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick that tells the story of the rise, rule, and fall of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and the entire era it encompassed.

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The debate continues on the legality of the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki. The White House Counsel opinion supporting the practice apparently is still classified as no one has published a copy. But State Department legal advisor Harold Koh explained it pretty clearly in March, 2010:

What I can say is that it is the considered view of this Administration—and it has certainly been my experience during my time as Legal Adviser—that U.S. targeting practices, including lethal operations conducted with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, comply with all applicable law, including the laws of war.

....As recent events have shown, al-Qaeda has not abandoned its intent to attack the United States, and indeed continues to attack us. Thus, in this ongoing armed conflict, the United States has the authority under international law, and the responsibility to its citizens, to use force, including lethal force, to defend itself, including by targeting persons such as high-level al-Qaeda leaders who are planning attacks.

What about the criteria? Koh said: [More...]

Police arrested 500 protesters participating in Occupy Wall St. at the Brooklyn Bridge today. The NY Times reports many felt they were tricked.

Protesters who used the Brooklyn Bridge walkway were not arrested,” said the head police spokesman, Paul J. Browne. “Those who took over the Brooklyn-bound roadway, and impeded vehicle traffic, were arrested.”

But many protesters said that they thought the police had tricked and trapped them, allowing them onto the bridge and even escorting them across, only to surround them in orange netting after hundreds of them had entered.

Earlier in the afternoon, 10 buses from the Department of Corrections at Rikers Island were dispatched to the site.

The U.S. is warning travelers world-wide of potential retaliation threats for the targeted killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.

A Yemen security official said today that reports that bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri was one of those killed with al-Awlaki and Samir Khan is incorrect. As for how they found al-Awlaki, the official said "they had located Awlaki with intelligence gathered from a captured al Qaeda operative." Anyone wonder what tactics were used to get that information?

Al-Awlaki's death is not going to end AQAP or be the end of al Qaeda. For one thing, AQAP's top leaders are still alive, including Nasser al-Wahayshi, deputy leader Said al-Shihri, and military commander Qasim al-Raymi. AQAP will replace its leaders who are killed much faster than we can kill them.

Update 10/2: The US media is finally correcting its reports from yesterday saying bombmaker Ibrahim al-Asiri was killed in the attack on al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. If I could find the Yemeni officials' statements yesterday saying al-Asiri was not killed, why couldn't they? Answer: They probably did see the reports, but chose to run with the unsupported claim by unnamed US officials that he was killed. More bang for the buck I guess -- it made for a juicier story.