Faisal Shahzad, the defendant in the failed Times Square car bomb plot, pleaded guilty to all charges today, apparently without a plea deal. A Government source says prosecutors will be requesting the maximum sentence, despite his two weeks of voluntarily answering questions.

A source familiar with the case told CNN that prosecutors will ask for the maximum sentence on the charges during sentencing, which is scheduled for October 5.

The source said there was no plea deal and no cooperation deal. That means that, despite the fact that Shahzad cooperated with prosecutors for two weeks after his arrest, they will not request any preferential treatment for him.

He faces a mandatory life sentence on one of the counts. [More...]

John Cole writes:

[M]uch of our politics has devolved into this kind of nonsense. We don’t actually care what policies are enacted, we care how they are enacted. Did Obama stick it to the Republicans? Was he angry enough with BP? Is he showing enough emotion? Can he “connect” with the white voter and “joe-sixpack?” Is he throwing the base “a bone?” Did he say “climate change” and use the right code words? Was he “friendly” enough to Israel?

I wish it would all stop, but the idiocy of the conservative right is matched by the progressive left in this regard.

(Emphasis supplied.) This is an inaccurate attack on the "progressive left." One can argue that they have been unrealistic about the "politics" of what is possible, but if one group has been consistently policy focused, it has been the progressive left. Many (John Cole among them) have spent an inordinate amount of time yelling at the progressive left for being too focused on the "perfect" policy and not sufficiently appreciating the "good" policies the Obama Administration has achieved. Cole's latest critique is not consistent with the past criticisms of the progressive left letting the "perfect be the enemy of the good."

Speaking for me only

Bump and Update:: Joran Van der Sloot's meeting with the Judge has concluded. According to Peruvian news, he said nothing. (English Google translation here.)

Radio Programs reported, the judge stayed for nearly an hour inside the prison, and finally had to put on record the refusal of the Netherlands in a joint report with the prosecutor.

Original Post: Dutch Report: Joran Van der Sloot Says Tricked Into Confessing

According to the Dutch Newspaper Der Telegraaf, which says its reporters interviewed Joran Van der Sloot in his prison cell, Joran now says he was tricked into signing the confession. (Google translation here.) From the translation:[More...]

Spain's last stand in the World Cup comes this afternoon versus Honduras. With Chile's 1-0 win over Switzerland, Spain's chances hinge on a win today. If they draw, even a win over Chile can not guarantee Spain's passage to the Round of 16 (Switzerland could qualify with a win in its final match with Honduras.) Spain, the pre-tournament favorite, has to win today. And even a win today is no guarantee- only a guarantee that Spain will control its own destiny.

It's a huge match.

Open Thread.

In an opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, the Supreme Court today upheld the constitutionality of the material support to terrorism statute. The opinion in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project is here.

According to the opinion, the plaintiffs were challenging specific provisions, including:

....material support—“training,” “expert advice or assistance,” “service,” and “personnel”—asserting violations of the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause on the ground that the statutory terms are impermissibly vague, and violations of their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association. They claim that §2339B is invalid to the extent it prohibits them from engaging in certain specified activities, including training PKK members to use international law to resolve disputes peacefully; teaching PKK members to petition the United Nations and other representative bodies for relief; and engaging in political advocacy on behalf of Kurds living in Turkey and Tamils living in Sri Lanka.

[More...]

Joran Van der Sloot will appear before a judge today in Lima. (Court's press release here, Spanish version here.) The hearing will be at Miguel Castro Castro prison. Again, the media reports are all over the place as to what charges the prosecutor has asked the Judge to consider and who his lawyer will be.

First off, contrary to some news reports Sunday (which appear to be based on this one from Lima, translation here), New York attorney Joe Tacopina is not going to Peru (at least not at this time) but he has been consulting with Joran's mother and assisting her in securing a top attorney in Peru. How do I know? He's a good friend of mine and he just told me.

Second, as I understand them, the charges being contemplated are murder (with special circumstances) and simple theft (not aggravated robbery.) The best source is the Court's press release announcing the charges on June 11, 2010. Translation, followed by Spanish: [More...]

By now, I'd bet as many people have seen the arrest, perp walk and transfer of Joran Van der Sloot from police headquarters in Lima, Peru to the Big House at Miguel Castro Castro Prison as 15 years ago watched the perp walk of Timothy McVeigh as he was led out from the Noble County Courthouse in Oklahoma in his orange bullet-proof vest.

Amid throngs of media and crowds of angry bystanders, millions watched as Joran, wearing a bullet-proof vest with his head partially covered by a blanket, was manhandled by police as they whisked him into a waiting van (that appeared to be an ambulance.) The police allowed media cameras to continue filming as they followed the van to Castro Castro Prison. They even allowed the media to enter the prison so they could film Joran being perp-walked to his cell.

Within days, police released security camera videos from the scene of the crime and the casino where Joran and Stephany Flores played poker, video and photos of the inspection of his property upon arrest and the transcript of his post-arrest "confession." More recently, they revealed the crime-scene photos to a U.S. publication (which, in a desire to make sure everyone knew they had the exclusive, so prominently branded its name into the photos, the photos are practically worthless and not even worth linking to.)

The point: While it may appear the death of Stephany Flores is the crime of the century in Peru, and the reason for the wall-to-wall, symbiotic police-media video coverage, it turns out it isn't. This is just how they do things in Peru. [More...]

As we wrote last month, Ahmed Ghailani, who was moved from Guantanamo to New York to face trial on charges related to the 1988 U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa, has refused to attend court because he objects to the visual cavity searches of his rectum. The Court's May 4 ruling is here.

After hearing expert testimony on how the procedure causes Ghailani PTSD flashbacks and renders him unable to assist in his defense, in violation of the Sixth Amendment, the Judge has now issued another order denying relief to Ghailani (available here.) It describes the visual cavity search and the digital cavity search, probably with more detail than you care to know. [More...]

Happy Fathers Day!

World Cup -- Paraguay leads Slovakia 1-0 at the 70th minute. Paraguay wins 2-0. New Zealand ties Italy 1-1. Brazil faces the Ivory Coast this afternoon.

US Open - Dustin Johnson hits the ball 500 yards and leads the US Open by 2. Tiger might be back. Shot 66 yesterday and sits 4 back.

Tour of Switzerland - What does Lance have? Today's time trial will tell us a lot about his chances in the Tour de France.

Yanks, Rays, Sox in tight battle in AL East- The 3 best teams in baseball are in the same division. One will be left out of the playoffs.

Open Thread.

I'm sure there's news to report, but I haven't seen much today.

Does anyone have something special planned for Father's Day?

Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

ICE has decided not to deport Harvard student Eric Balderas after all. They are going to put him on deferred action status.

Balderas has lived here since the age of 4. He was detained and given a summons to show up for the beginning of removal proceedings when he was boarding a flight from San Antonio, where his mother lives, back to Boston.

These cases illustrate the need for comprehensive immigration reform. ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that focuses first on criminal aliens who pose a threat to our communities while we continue to work with Congress to enact reform,” ICE spokeswoman Cori Bassett said. “ICE uses its discretion on a case-by-case basis, as appropriate, and has the authority to grant a deferral of a removal action based upon the merits of an individual’s case and a review of specific facts.”

None of the articles say whether his mother is a citizen. I hope ICE also leaves her alone.

It's time for Congress to get busy and pass the DREAM Act.

DemfromCt celebrates this CNN poll finding:

According to the poll, opposition to increased offshore drilling has grown 10 points since May and is now twice as high as it was in 2008. Fifty-eight percent of those questioned support a six-month moratorium on new drilling in the Gulf and other offshore sites; 68 percent favor increased regulation of the oil industry in this country.

DemfromCt appears to want to attribute this result to President Obama's speech: