Orlando Sentinel:

The high-speed train between Orlando and Tampa got an unexpected one-week reprieve Friday, just hours after Gov. Rick Scott again rejected $2.4 billion in federal money for the project. The sudden shift may have been triggered by a possible lawsuit against Scott contending he has overstepped his authority by killing the train. The suit, which could be filed as soon as Monday, is expected to argue that a law passed by the Legislature during a special session in 2009 compels Scott to pursue the train. Two sources close to the situation said the suit likely would be filed with the state Supreme Court in Tallahassee. It was unclear who would sign on to it.

(Emphasis supplied.) Can the Florida Supreme Court compel Rick Scott to greenlight Florida's HSR project? Let's explore this issue on the flip.

Prison officials won't let Phil Spector attend his civil trial against attorney Robert Shapiro. Spector wants a refund from the million dollar fee he paid Shapiro who represented him at the beginning of his criminal case and for the first year. Shapiro did manage to get him bond, but at issue is whether the fee was excessive.

He has battled Shapiro for years, contending the lawyer took advantage of him after he was arrested in 2003. Shapiro represented Spector for a year, securing his release on bail.

Shapiro's attorneys deny any wrongdoing and say the producer knew he was paying to have exclusive rights to the lawyer who also helped defend O.J. Simpson at his murder trial.

Shapiro says he turned down interview requests by Robert Blake and Scott Peterson to represent them in their murder trials because of his representation of Spector. He also says that Spector fully understood the fee agreement. The trial begins March 7.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A Denver physician accused of rape by his former nanny was acquitted today. It was a he-said-she-said case. Defense attorney Pam Mackey (who represented Kobe Bryant in his alleged sexual assault case) and Saskia Jordan represented the doctor. More case details here.

What convinced the jury? The doctor, who is divorced, had two nannies, and the head nanny fired the complaining nanny after learning of the encounter. The fired nanny then filed a civil lawsuit against the doctor. Translation: motive to lie.

Both nannys and the doctor testified at trial. The jurors were allowed to ask questions. They deliberated four hours before reaching their verdict.

As a result of the charge, the doctor had his medical license suspended and lost his hospital privileges. I assume those will be restored. But, how does he get his reputation back?

Via the Center for Constitutional Rights: The full panel of Judges of the Audencia Nacional (Spain’s High Court) rejected a Spanish prosecutor’s effort to stop an investigation into the role of US officials for torture on Guantanamo.

This is a monumental decision that will enable a Spanish judge to continue a case on the “authorized and systematic plan of torture and ill treatment” by U.S. officials at Guantanamo. Geoffrey Miller, the former commanding officer at Guantánamo, has already been implicated, and the case will surely move up the chain of command. Since the U.S. government has not only failed to investigate the illegal actions of its own officials and, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, also sought to interfere in the Spanish judicial process and stop the case from proceeding, this will be the first real investigation of the U.S. torture program. This is a victory for accountability and a blow against impunity. The Center for Constitutional Rights applauds the Spanish courts for not bowing to political pressure and for undertaking what may be the most important investigation in decades.

CCR's page on the Spanish lawsuits is here.

The LA Times reports on the status of the Winklevoss twins' latest lawsuit against Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. They are suing to undo the settlement they reached in 2008, reportedly worth $160 million to the twins, in money and Facebook stock. The case is pending in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Winklevosses won't say exactly how much they would seek in their high-stakes grudge fest with the billionaire Facebook founder, but by their own calculations they argue they should have received four times the number of Facebook shares. That would make any new settlement worth more than $600 million based on a recent valuation of Facebook at more than $50 billion.

The Winkelvoss brothers also sued their lawyers who represented them in the original lawsuit. The case was resolved by arbitration, and they were ordered to pay their lawyers the 20% contingency the fee agreement called for. [More...]

Yesterday, Matt Yglesias wrote:

Democratic Party politicians can win if and only if they secure large majorities of the vote from self-identified moderates, and then self-identified moderates have different opinions from liberals about several important issues. I really strongly recommend the paper as a dose of Real Talk for folks (myself included) who are more inclined to take the liberal side of these issues[.]

Today, Ezra Klein writes:

GDP for the 4th quarter of 2010 revised sharply downward:

Budget cuts by state and local governments hurt the economy more than originally thought, according to a government release Friday. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, was revised lower to an annual growth rate of 2.8% in the three months ending in December. The initial reading had been for a 3.2% growth rate in the period. That's a surprising dip, given that economists were expecting the rate to be revised upward to 3.3%.

Surprise will be the reaction this year as the economy struggles along with little job growth and federal government spending cuts. Our Lost Decade proceeds apace.

Speaking for me only

The capitulation begins:

With a political standoff over spending threatening to trigger a federal shutdown next week, Senate Democrats began drafting a plan Thursday to slice billions of dollars from domestic agency budgets over the next seven months, yielding to Republican demands to reduce the size of government this year.

In December, President Obama led the capitulation on tax policy. Now Senate Dems lead the capitulation on spending. They of course regret all the pain they will be inflicting and the severe damage they will be causing to the economy. Grover Norquist and the Republicans have no regrets of course. But does that really matter? The results are the same.

Speaking for me only

Ezra Klein points to this critique of Judge Gladys Kessler's opinion (PDF) upholding the Affordable Care Act. Ezra writes:

Avik Roy argues against Judge Gladys Kessler's ruling upholding the individual mandate. I'm linking to this for two reasons: One, to remind myself to blog on it tomorrow. Two, to recommend bookmarking Roy's blog for a smart conservative take on health-care policy.

I read the critique and am still looking for the "smart." I'll explain why on the flip.

Al Jazeera is in talks with Comcast about being added to the cable lineup. I think it would be a welcome addition.

Is anyone getting the new Macbook Pro with Thunderbolt that came out today? I'd love one, but I think the price tag is way too steep.

American Idol Top 24: Did any of your faves not make it? I think the guys are much more interesting and talented than the women this year.

The DEA and other agenciesarrested 541 people today in a national drug sweep.

Arizona, Atlanta, St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, San Antonio, San Diego, Chicago, Newark and Miami are key areas....Arizona, Atlanta, St. Louis, Denver, Detroit, San Antonio, San Diego, Chicago, Newark and Miami are key areas.... The operation is a joint effort by the DEA, ICE, U.S. Marshals, ATF, Border Patrol, and local agencies.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The judge presiding over the case of Wikileaks' founder Julian Assange's extradition to Sweden has ruled he can be extradited.

The Judge ruled Assange can get a fair trial in Sweden and that the extradition request and warrant were valid. He rejected Assange's claim that he also could be extradited to the U.S. or Guantanamo and said there was no evidence Assange faced torture or extradition if that happened.

Assange can appeal the decision.

3 stories for your consideration:

Obama Administration a year late and a lot of dollars short with haircuts for banks:

The Obama administration is trying to push through a settlement over mortgage-servicing breakdowns that could force America's largest banks to pay for reductions in loan principal worth billions of dollars. [. . .] Under the administration's proposed settlement, banks would have to bear the cost of all writedowns rather than passing them on to other investors. [. . . E]ven if banks agree to a $20 billion penalty, the number of mortgages that can be cured with that number is limited [. . .]

Goldman Sachs says budget cuts will significantly reduce economic growth: