A bi-partisan group of dignatories (list here, pdf)has issued a declaration for safely closing Guantanamo. It is backed by the Constitution Project and Human Rights First. The plan supports trying detainees in federal court and opposes indefinite detention. The declaration is available here (pdf).

The largest bipartisan group of prominent Americans to propose a plan for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention facility has backed a single scheme for the disposition of cases of current and future detainees.

Three simple proposals:

• close Guantanamo on schedule;
• use federal courts, not military commissions, to prosecute accused terrorists; and
• prohibit forever the practice of indefinite detention without charges.

Recognizing the difficulty that death row inmates have in bringing innocence claims before the court, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) has introduced H.R. 3986, "The Effective Death Penalty Appeals Act." (Received by e-mail from Amnesty International USA , no link yet:)

When a person facing execution has strong evidence of his innocence, he should have ample opportunity to bring those claims back into a court of law. The law as it stands today is flawed in this respect. Rep. Johnson's bill would ensure that death row inmates have the opportunity to present newly discovered evidence of innocence.

Given that 139 people have been wrongfully convicted and sent to death row in the last three decades in the United States, it is especially important that lawmakers take a close look at the flaws in a system that irreversibly takes human life.

This bill would help inmates like Troy Davis, who due to AEDPA, came within hours of being executed because courts said he could not raise his factual innocence claim. In August, the Supreme Court ruled David should be allowed a new hearing to establish his innocence. Legislation is needed to help others in this situation. [More...]

I found something worthwhile from last night's election results. TPM:

The NY-23 seat [. . .] went to Democrat Bill Owens [. . .] [a]nd the CA-10 seat [. . .] went to Democrat John Garamendi. That creates some simple arithmetic. Yesterday, Democrats had 256 voting members in the House. By week's end, they'll have 258. Last week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi could afford to lose no more than 38 Democratic votes on a landmark health care reform bill. Next week, after Owens and Garamendi are sworn in, she can lose up to 40.

Garamendi is a liberal and Owens said about the [HCR] bill at a debate last week [. . .]: "I think moving towards this legislation is very appropriate. I think the type or the form of the public option included in this bill is reasonable. [. . .]"

(Emphasis supplied.) That's two more votes for a public option. That's the biggest story of the night.

Speaking for me only

Ezra Klein digs deeper:

[T]hose primary challenges also broke whatever historical or pragmatic attachment Lieberman and Specter had to their traditional political homes. [. . .] Lieberman endorsed McCain and will likely vote, and maybe even filibuster, against health-care reform. Heterodox as he was, neither was likely before Lamont's challenge.

(Emphasis supplied.) I'll ignore the disingenuous goal post moving by Ezra (he wrote this the first time - "Look at the Senate right now: If Democrats [. . .] fall short, it’s likely to be because liberal activists ran a primary challenge against Joe Lieberman."), and take on the wrongheadedness of his thinking - to wit, Joe Lieberman would be voting for a public option now if he had not been primaried. This is just nonsense. Joe Lieberman has been fighting against health care reform for 20 years. I know Ezra was just a kid when Lieberman started this behavior, but you can just look it up. But becoming a Village idiot is good business for Ezra.

Speaking for me only

My election post mortem - um, it's the economy stupid? Don't run crazy people in New York? Old people in Maine are bigots?

I dunno, I suppose you can force a narrative out of this but I do not see one here. 2010 will be decided by what happens between now and Election Day 2010. I think there is nothing to be garnered from last night's results.

But my head is so immersed in the escapist world of sports right now that you should not go by me on this.

This is an Open Thread.

Maine is now the third state to legalize medical marijuana dispensaries.

In a landmark vote, Maine voters today approved Question 5, making the state the third in the country to license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and the first ever to do so by a vote of the people.

...Under the measure, the state will license nonprofit organizations to provide medical marijuana to qualified patients and set rules for their operation. While 13 states permit medical use of marijuana, only Rhode Island and New Mexico have similar dispensary provisions, both of which were adopted by the states’ legislatures....Question 5 also expands the list of medical conditions qualifying for protection under Maine’s law to include several conditions that are included in most other medical marijuana states, including intractable pain, agitation of Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (“Lou Gehrig’s disease”).

[More...]

Breckenridge, Colorado tonight became the first town in the country to vote to decriminalize possession of drug paraphernalia. It also decriminalized possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use.

The vote was 3 to 1, or 73 percent to 27 percent.

"This votes demonstrates that Breckenridge citizens overwhelmingly believe that adults should not be punished for making the safer choice to use marijuana instead of alcohol," said Sean McAllister, a Breckenridge attorney who proposed the ordinance.

Even though existing state law punishes personal possession of pot -- and bongs, pipes, etc.-- by a $100 fine rather than jail time, it still leaves those convicted with a criminal record. Thanks to voters in Breckenridge, that will no longer be the case. So it is a big deal.

The new law takes effect Jan. 1.

Bump and Update: Vehicle Impound law is overwhelmingly rejected. Congratulations, Denver, reason and common sense prevailed. More here.

***

Denver Votes on Vehicle Impound Law

If you live in Denver, don't forget to vote today and oppose the vehicle impound initiative mandating police seize your vehicle if you are stopped and don't have a valid driver's license.

Aimed at undocumented residents (referred to as illegal aliens in the initiative), it has a far greater reach. Here's the text on Initiative 300. [More...]

I have no thoughts on today's elections. None.

Hope you folks can do better than me.

BREAKING! Deeds Loses In VA! (Snark)

Bloomberg Wins

Corzine Loses In NJ

Dem Leads In NY-23. Now, if we can only get the Teabaggers to win all the GOP primaries, Dems might be sitting pretty in 2010. It is always easier to run against someone than be run against.

I'm going to share my thoughts with you on something almost none of you care about -- should Joe Girardi have started A.J. Burnett on short rest last night? I actually told my father before the game that I would have held Burnett back for Game 6 because he was better at Yankee Stadium than on the road (Burnett had a good history starting with 3 days rest.) So I am doing an "I told you so" now? No. Thinking about it, I was wrong and Girardi was right. [More...]

Ezra Klein dives into the deep end of the Village pool:

Look at the Senate right now: If Democrats have 60 votes, it's because conservative activists kept running primary challengers against Arlen Specter. If they fall short, it's likely to be because liberal activists ran a primary challenge against Joe Lieberman.

Yep, ole Joe Lieberman was a down the line liberal Dem until the 2006 election. He was "with us on everything but the war." Ezra Klein -- now officially a Village idiot. See also Atrios ("[I]t'll be interesting to see how the Villagers will react. My guess is they'll portray [the NY-23 Teabaggers] as just folks exercising their patriotic duties, unlike those dirty f*cking hippie traitors who ran a primary against the greatest man in America, Joe Lieberman." (Emphasis mine.))

Speaking for me only

Bump and Update: The amendment to the rule defining "significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient" for marijuana caregivers, prompted by last week's Colorado Court of Appeals decision, passed unanimously just before noon, but not without a fight, when the Board refused to hear public comments. The old rule, 5 CCR 1006-2, passed in July and made effective in August, 2009, is here. It defines the responsibility of a caregiver as:

“Significant responsibility for managing the well-being of a patient” means assisting a patient with daily activities, including but not limited to transportation or housekeeping or meal preparation or shopping or making any necessary arrangement for access to medical care or services or provision of medical marijuana. (my emphasis)

Question: How long will it be good for? Colorado's State Administrative Procedures Act provides that resolutions passed at agency emergency hearings are generally only valid for three months. A copy of the revised rule passed today (and rule on emergency hearings) is here (pdf). A full public hearing will be held Dec. 16. When will the appeals (pdf) begin? [More...]