Don't confuse the Smart of Crime Project with the new conservative group Right on Crime, championed by Newt Gingrich and his friends. The Smart on Crime Project is the real deal. Today it released a 317 page report on how to fix our broken criminal justice system.

The complete report is here . If you just want to peruse the Executive Summary, it's here. The recommendations are here.

The report to Congress and the Administration covers everything from over-federalization of state crime and over-criminalization to problems with unreliable snitch testimony to the death penalty, false confessions and of course, faulty eyewitness identification, which we know is the greatest cause of wrongful convictions. There's also sections on grand juries, forensic evidence, false confessions and federal sentencing (opposing new mandatory minimums and working to repeal many already on the books.)

The website and project was sponsored by the Constitution Project. A list of contributors is here.

Via the ACLU: please take action tonight as a vote on extending the Patriot Act may occur tomorrow.

Today the House voted to put the bill on the calendar.(It was defeated earlier this week in a vote requiring 2/3 approval. Now, a simple majority will do. Here's the bill.

Some news sites are reporting the vote won't be until next week. Either way, let your Congresspersons know how you feel tonight. Extending the Patriot Act won't makes us safer but it will make us less free.

Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) is retiring and won't run again for the Senate.

We're busy at work today. For those of you online, here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

The BBC says Hosni Mubarak has scheduled a news conference. It is expected he will give up his power now -- or at least, as one official tells BBC, he won't be President on Friday.

More here.

Al Jazeera has this profile of Omar Suleiman.

Is it arrogance or stupidity that leads a Congressman to email a shirtless photo of himself to a woman who posts on a Craig's List dating forum, using his real name but lying about his age, occupation and his marital status?

After Gawker exposed Republican Congressman Christopher Lee today, he immediately resigned from Congress. Is anybody else wondering whether the Craig's List encounter isn't just the tip of the proverbial iceberg?

Lindsay Lohan was charged today with felony theft and violating her 2007 DUI probation. She appeared in court and pleaded not guilty. (Background here.) She was released after being booked and posting bond, $20,000.00 for each charge. The judge gave her a stern warning -- if she gets arrested while on bond, he will keep her locked up.

You're in a different situation now that a felony has been filed against you...If you violate the law, I will remand you and set no bail...A felony is a different situation and you're not entitled to bail.

The judge indicated plea negotiations would be taking place before the next hearing. TMZ's video of the judge speaking to Lindsay is here. Here's what she wore to court.

I doubt she'll end up with either a felony on her record or significant jail time. Her biggest problem may be avoiding new allegations while these charges are pending. She seems to be a magnet for them. [More...]

As TechHerald reports, among th[e] documents was a presentation, “The Wikileaks Threat,” put together by three data intelligence firms for Bank of America [. . .] They suggested that Glenn Greenwald’s support was key to WikiLeaks’ ongoing survival.

One of those listed as a volunteer, Salon.com columnist, Glenn Greenwald, was singled out by the proposal. [. . ]“Glenn was critical in the Amazon to OVH transition,” the proposal says, referencing the hosting switch WikiLeaks was forced to make after political pressure caused Amazon to drop their domain.

As TechHerald notes, an earlier version of the slide said support from people like Glenn needed to be “attacked.”

Still busy after all these days . . .

Open Thread.

So it appears Lindsay Lohan was captured on camera at the jewelry store wearing the exact $2,500 necklace she will be charged with grand theft this afternoon in court in LA. Her assistant returned the necklace to the police before the search warrant for her house was executed.

So: One of a few things happened: Lindsay tried on the necklace, liked it, and told her assistant to make the arrangements for her to have it on a loaner basis --and the assistant forgot and didn't tell the store. So the store, not having the lending paperwork filled out, thought it had been stolen. Second case scenario: Lindsay tried on the necklace and it is so light she didnt' realize she still had it on when she left the shop. As soon as she was told the police were going to do a search warrant, she told her friend to bring it back Third case scenario, Lindsay tried on the necklace to see if it would go with a specific outfit she had at home. She asked the salesgirl if she could take it home to match with the outfit, promising to return to either buy it or return it. She had other things on her mind for a few days and forgot, and as soon as the news of a search warrant surfaced, she had her assistant return it.

Whichever one it is, it sounds like Lindsay will say (1) borrowing jewelry is her and everyone else's customary practice and stars have assistants to deal with the paperwork; she never intended to permanently deprive the store of the necklace (I bet we'll hear that once she wore it at home with her clothes she decided and asked for it to be returned -- maybe even say she told her aide to return it. [More...]

It's stopped snowing but the temperature will go down to 8 below tonight.

Dinner for a cold night: Homemade chicken soup with matzoh balls, a toasty baguette with brie cheese, and arugula salad with pomegranate seeds, pine nuts and balsamic vinaigrette.

Now for The Good Wife. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Remember the Pennsylvania juvenile court judges who were charged with taking $2.6 million in kickbacks from private juvenile jails to sentence kids to serve time, even for trivial offenses? Two judges pleaded guilty to the "Cash for Kids" scheme, with plea agreements calling for 87 months. The federal judge rejected the plea agreements and new Indictments with a slew of more charges were filed.

One of the two judges pleaded guilty again, but the other, Mark Ciavarella, went on trial yesterday, in federal court. Opening arguments and testimony began today. [More...]

Tea Partiers helped defeat a House Bill to extend three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act until December. The provisions expire next month:

The Patriot Act bill would have renewed the authority for court-approved roving wiretaps that permit surveillance on multiple phones. Also addressed was Section 215, the so-called library records provision, which gives the FBI court-approved access to "any tangible thing" relevant to a terrorism investigation.

The third deals with the "lone-wolf" provision of a 2004 anti-terror law that permits secret intelligence surveillance of non-U.S. people not known to be affiliated with a specific terror organization.

Obama sought a three year extension. Senate Republicans want to make them permanent. It is likely to be a temporary victory:

Republican leaders will bring the bill back to the floor under a rule, where it will almost certainly secure the 218-vote threshold.