Lindsay Lohan has a new attorney, former O.J. Simpson lawyer, Robert Shapiro. She has also checked into rehab. She's scheduled to report to jail in five days.

The rehab facility is Pickford Lofts, which was started by Shapiro. Shapiro's son Brent died of an overdose in 2005 and he also started "The Brent Shapiro Foundation" to raise drug awareness.

According to TMZ, Shapiro will try to convince Judge Marsha Revel either to eliminate or minimize her 90-day jail sentence, followed by 90 days in rehab.

I suggested the other day she may need to be weaned off the prescription drugs she is taking before she can safely do a jail sentence. Perhaps an emergency motion is in the works to at least delay the start of her prison sentence until she finishes rehab. If she does it successfully, maybe then the judge would be inclined to reduce or eliminate her jail sentence and let her continue with rehab.

A federal judge in New York today resentenced criminal defense attorney Lynne Stewart to ten years in prison.

The sentence was the latest grim chapter in a long odyssey for Ms. Stewart, who was convicted in 2005 of assisting terrorism by smuggling information from an imprisoned client to violent followers in Egypt.

Ms. Stewart, 70, who has breast cancer and was given time to seek treatment before her first sentencing in 2006, said Thursday that incarceration was wearing her down. “It’s a death sentence,” her husband, Ralph Poynter, said outside the courtroom.

The Government had requested 15 to 30 years. 400 people wrote letters on Lynne's behalf. [More...]

The Senate passes the financial overhaul bill. It now goes to Obama for signature.

Arizona's SB1070 is getting its first court hearing today. Only one of the seven lawsuits against the law is being heard, that of Officer David Salgado and the statewide nonprofit group Chicanos Por La Causa.

Scott McInnis vows on Facebook not to quit ("I'm in it to win it" he says) but our local Fox affiliate is reporting the Republican Governor's Association is withdrawing its support and canceling fundraisers for him.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The House Judiciary Committee has released the deposition transcript of former Bush legal counsel Jay Bybee, author of two infamous memos on enhanced interrogation techniques, aka torture. Chairman John Conyers writes:

"This testimony reveals that many brutal techniques reportedly used in CIA interrogations were not authorized by the Justice Department – the author of these legal memos has now admitted this on the record," Conyers said. "These statements are highly relevant to the pending criminal investigation of detainee abuse and I have provided the Committee’s interview to the Justice Department and directed my staff to cooperate with any further requests for information."

The fact sheet is here. The full transcripts are here. The ACLU's reaction is here. [More....]

The Swiss asked for the sealed transcripts of former district attorney in the Roman Polanski case. DOJ says it consulted with the LA District Attorney's office and denied the request. It was the denial that prevented the Swiss from getting to the heart of the issue: did the judge intend for Polanski only to serve 42 days? If so, then extradition isn't allowed under the treaty. The Swiss Statement denying extradition said:

The Swiss government said it had sought confidential testimony given Jan. 26 by Roger Gunson, the Los Angeles attorney in charge of the original prosecution against Polanski. The United States rejected the request.

The LA District Attorney's office told the judge in May the Swiss never made the request. Now they say they were never notified by DOJ that one had been made.

District attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said Wednesday that Los Angeles prosecutors were never notified of the request. But the Justice Department said Thursday the Los Angeles District Attorney's office was fully informed and approved the denial.

[More...]

WaPo:

House Democrats are lashing out at the White House, venting long-suppressed anger over what they see as President Obama's lukewarm efforts to help them win reelection -- and accusing administration officials of undermining the party's chances of retaining the majority in November's midterm elections.

The White House in turn, seems ready to blame "liberal bloggers".

The message to take from all this is that the Dems are going to get their clocks cleaned in November. The fight to avoid the blame appears to be the big story of the moment.

Speaking for me only

Politico:

In private conversations, White House officials are contemptuous of what they see as liberal lamentations unhinged from historical context or contemporary political realities.

(Emphasis supplied.) Heh.

Speaking for me only

Apple has scheduled a press conference for Friday morning. There is speculation the company will announce a recall of the iPhone 4.

I can't see a recall. Not with the cost estimated around $1 billion. And unless they have new defect-free models available, who's going to bring their only phone into Apple and leave it there for repair? Are they going to give out loaners? [More...]

Breaking: Our local ABC News station got an on camera interview with Rolly Fischer, the water engineer Scott McInniss blamed for his plagiarism while working as a $300,000 paid fellow for the Hasan Foundation. The interview will be on air in 20 minutes, but they have this article up now:

The man Scott McInnis blamed for the plagiarized material in an article on water rights told CALL7 Investigator John Ferrugia, the candidate for Governor lied and he wants to set the record straight.

In an exclusive interview, Rolly Fischer told Ferrugia, he did not know his research was going to be used for articles for which McInnis was paid $300,000 by a private foundation.

Ferrugia asked, "Rolly, is Scott McInnis lying to us? "Yes," said Fischer.

[More...]

Is anyone following the new Big Brother season? I think Kathy (the Arkansas Deputy Sheriff) is the saboteur. Other possibilities: Lane or Matt.

My iPhone 4 dropped two calls today. My 3G never dropped one in two plus years. I still like the 4 better because the sound is clearer and the internet is so fast. But I'd give it up quick for the IPad which has become my favorite. Especially for reading books and magazines and watching Netflix and videos.

Whoever thought Ward Churchill and Scott McInnis would have something in common? The plagiarism story continues to escalate, with the Denver Post calling on McInnis to "throw in the towel" and Colorado Ethics Watch filing a complaint against him and asking for an investigation. But McInnis defused the second accusation somewhat today when the Washington Post columnist whose column he appropriated said it was with his permission.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Speaking in New Orleans this week, Attorney General Eric Holder said it's time to "turn the page" on our approach to crime and expressed commitment to re-entry programs.

...we can’t simply arrest our way out of the problem of violent crime. Of course, incarceration is necessary for public safety. But it’s only partially responsible for the declining crime rates we’ve seen. It’s not a sole, economically sustainable, solution.

Over the last few decades, state spending on corrections has risen faster than nearly any other budget item. Yet, at a cost of $60 billion a year, our prisons and jails do little to prepare prisoners to get jobs and “go straight” after they’re released. People who have been incarcerated are often barred from housing, shunned by potential employers and surrounded by others in similar circumstances. This is a recipe for high recidivism. And it’s the reason that two-thirds of those released are rearrested within three years. It’s time for a new approach.

[More...]

I bet Sarah Palin is thrilled to learn of her daughter's re-engagement to Levi Bristol from U.S. Weekly.

Guess what mom? We're engaged! Again!

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston announced today on the cover of Us Weekly that they're back together, have decided to get hitched – and that even their parents had no idea.

"We got engaged two weeks go," the daughter of 2008 vice-presidential candidate and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the magazine. "It felt right, even though we don't have the approval of our parents."