Judge Burton Roberts has died. He was 88. The retired Bronx Supreme Court Judge was the inspiration for Myron Kovitsky, the judge in Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities.

In “The Bonfire of the Vanities,” one of the only admirable figures is Myron Kovitsky, a Bronx judge who refuses to be influenced by the press, the public or publicity-seeking prosecutors. Mr. Wolfe modeled the character after Judge Roberts and dedicated the book to him and one of his former assistants, Edward W. Hayes. In the 1990 film version, the judge’s name was changed to Leonard White, and he was portrayed by Morgan Freeman.

Judge Roberts, a longtime prosecutor before becoming a judge, was flamboyant but always true to his strongly held principles:

[He] denigrated capital punishment, mandatory sentencing laws, and public officials who criticized rulings in ways he felt were politically motivated intrusions upon the independence of the judiciary.

[More...]

Desperate Housewives should be funny tonight. There's also new episodes of The Next Iron Chef, Brothers and Sisters, football, and of course, HBO's Boardwalk.

On the dinner menu: Homemade spaghetti and meatballs.

TalkLeft moved to a new server over the weekend. It should be faster, but the automatic formatting isn't working in the post-writing window (comments are fine) so I have to post and then go back and add the formatting. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

What's on your mind tonight? This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

A new poll from the Denver Post and 9News have Sen. Michael Bennet and challenger Ken Buck in a dead heat. Three weeks ago, Buck was leading by five points.

In the Governor's race, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has a good lead on Tom Tancredo. The poll shows he's got more support than Tancredo and the Republican candidate, Dan Maes, combined. Results here.

Tancredo is ratcheting up the ads against both Maes and Hickenlooper. [More...]

CNN reports 1,000 Yemen military and security forces have launched an attack in the Shabwa province of Yemen, believed to be home to al Qaeda members, including Muslim Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, but they say he is not the only target.

Last week, there were other raids. They didn't kill any al Qaeda members, just a 65 year old man and two women. From the Yemen Observer:

Yemeni warplanes launched strikes in the Modia district of Abyan province on Tuesday, targeting locations believed to be home to al-Qaeda commander Abdul Munem al-Fahtani, according to the defense ministry website.

“The raids at Thaooba area, Modia district, killed a 65-year-old man and two women. No al-Qaeda members were killed,” a security official told Yemen Observer on a condition of anonymity.

[More...]

Open thread.

7-7 last week. 49-52-1 on the season. Yanks out. Gators in tatters. But today begins a new run. Let's start with the Missouri Tigers playing at home against BCS #1 Oklahoma. I like the Tigers (+4) at home. I've now watched 3 Oklahoma games and 2 Mizzou games. Oklahoma is not that good and Mizzou is better than I thought. The emotion of playing at home can carry them through.

I've become a believer in Auburn. I think they are going to win the SEC. And it starts by giving LSU a beatdown today at home. I love Auburn (-6) in this game. A 10 unit play. More . . .

I've endorsed Joe DiSalvo for Pitkin County Sheriff several times over the past six months. Here's one more reason: Di Salvo supports the legalization of drugs for personal use:

DiSalvo, who is currently Pitkin County undersheriff, said he had no interest in whether people in their own homes “fire up a joint or do a line on [their] table.” That means no undercover work would be done by deputies under his command, DiSalvo said, calling the action too expensive and dangerous for law enforcement officers.

“I think adults should be able to do what they want in their own homes and do so safely,” DiSalvo said, adding that that attitude does not apply to children or people getting behind the wheel of automobiles.

Di Salvo shares the views of Aspen's retiring Sheriff (and my personal fave) Bob Braudis: [More...]

The backdrop to this outrageous comment by a prosecutor post is an Aspen Daily News article about how the budget for the DA's office in the four county district that includes Aspen (Pitkin County) is five times bigger than that for the Public Defender's office. (2/3 of the defendants charged in the district qualify for court-appointed counsel. There are 14 DA's and 4 public defenders.) The Pitkin County Commissioners asked Martin Beeson, the elected District Attorney, to cut 5% off his $3 million budget. Instead, he asked for a $600,000. increase.

When asked about the funding disparity, Beeson responded with:

“Public defenders are not defenders of the public,” Beeson said. “They are not serving the public good. They are taxpayer-funded attorneys for criminals.”

Not serving the public good? Someone needs to clue Beeson in to the purpose of the Bill of Rights. It was designed to protect the rights of the individual accused against the power of the government, by restraining the government's power. [More...]

Wikileaks has published 400,000 pages of military documents from 2004 to 2009 revealing details of murder and torture. It's the largest leak of military documents in history.

"There are over 300 recorded reports of coalition forces committing torture and abuse of detainees across 284 reports and over 1,000 cases of Iraqi security forces committing similar crimes," WikiLeaks said in a press release.

"There are numerous cases of what appear to be clear war crimes by US forces, such as the deliberate killing of persons trying to surrender," WikiLeaks said.

Via the LA Times: [More...]

The Nevada Supreme Court today upheld O.J. Simpson's convictions for armed robbery and kidnapping.

The opinion is here.

The Court reversed the conviction of his co-defendant, saying he should have received a separate trial due to, among other things, the prejudice of being tried with O.J. The opinion is here.

When will he be eligible for parole on the 33 year sentence? My best guess, 9 years.

Reason magazine:

These standoffs never end with public broadcasting getting defunded. The point of the exercise isn't to cut NPR loose; it's to use the threat of cutting NPR loose to whip the network into line.

(Emphasis supplied.) In case anyone actually cares about the First Amendment, this is what it is supposed to prohibit. It's not about determining what is on Fox or what it is on NPR. It is about preventing the government from determining what is on Fox and NPR. And that's why I join the Extreme Right in seeking the removal of government funds from NPR. NPR will be the better for it:

NPR can certainly survive without the [government] subsidies. It gets very little direct money from the CPB—less than 2 percent of its budget. [T]he network has been picking up other sources of support, just this month receiving a $1.8 million grant from George Soros' Open Society Foundations—already more than half the amount it got directly this year from the feds. As for the affiliates, nothing quite boosts a public radio station's pledge week like the possibility that those Republican meanies might pump CS gas into the Morning Edition compound and set the place on fire.

Precisely. Members of NPR can have a stronger say in what NPR's mission is. Not the government hacks. This could be a great thing for NPR.

Speaking for me only

Yanks are still on the brink as they return to Texas tonight for Game 6 of the ALCS. If they find a way to win tonight, Cliff Lee will be waiting in Game 7. It will be a spectacular comeback if they can do it. The Phillies go home for Games 6 and 7 after Halladay beat Lincecum. I think the Phillies have the better chance of the comeback, with Oswalt and Hamels lined up. But the Giants just need one.

Speaking of baseball, Marvin Miller is not in the Hall of Fame. That's a disgrace. As Red Barber said, Miller is one of the 3 most important figures in the last century of baseball, with Ruth and Robinson. Here's a cool site, ThanksMarvin.com:

The election of [Bowie] Kuhn [to the Hall of Fame] and the rejection of Marvin was absurd. — Fay Vincent, Commissioner of Major League Baseball, '89-'92

I did not remember Kuhn was voted into the Hall of Fame. What a joke.

Open Thread.