The Washington Post has given columnist Dan Froomkin his walking papers. What a stupid, myopic decision. Froomkin is the best columnist the paper has. As Gawker puts it:

"The Washington Post, which pays money to opinion writers such as Bill Kristol (smarmy) and Richard Cohen (smarmier), has fired blogger Dan Froomkin, one of the only WaPo opinion writers who pointed out that the Bush White House was crooked."

The Post says his column has outlived its usefulness. Is that another way of saying Obama is so popular there's no need for a journalist who seeks to hold him and others in the Administration accountable? Do they really think because Bush is gone, the problems are over? Just wait a few more months...the restless stirrings by interest groups are already there, criticism is just around the corner.

Froomkin undoubtedly will have no trouble landing another media outlet for his work. I hope it's soon because his voice is too important not to be shared.

Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) today introduced a bill to eliminate all federal penalties for marijuana possession. Via the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP):

The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 would eliminate the threat of federal arrest and prison for the possession of up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of an ounce of marijuana — nationwide.

Please go here and send an e-mail to your Congressperson asking them to support this bill. You can view last year's version of the bill here.

Last week he introduced the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, (H.R. 2835), a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail and to allow pharmacies to dispense marijuana to patients with a doctor's recommendation. You can send a message to your Congressperson asking for support here.

Both bills were introduced last year but died at the end of the Congressional session. Hopefully, we'll have more luck this year. Please, do your part.

In a setback to requests for DNA testing by convicted inmates, the Supreme Court today decided the Alaska case of District Attorney's Office vs. Osborne. The opinion is here (pdf).

In a 5-to-4 decision, the court found against William G. Osborne, a convicted rapist from Alaska. But the decision does not necessarily mean that many innocent prisoners will languish in their cells without access to DNA testing, since Alaska is one of only a few states without a law granting convicts at least some access to the new technology.

“DNA testing has an unparalleled ability both to exonerate the wrongly convicted and to identify the guilty,” the majority conceded, in an opinion written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. “The availability of new DNA testing, however, cannot mean that every criminal conviction, or even every conviction involving biological evidence, is suddenly in doubt.”

The Innocence Project (which represented Osborne) calls the decision disappointing but of limited impact. ScotusBlog has more. .[More...]

The Congressional Black Caucus is teaming with Harvard Law School to put on this program in Washington next week. The speakers are terrific.

The Congressional Black Caucus Community Re-Investment Taskforce and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School invite you to attend "Rethinking Federal Sentencing Policy" 25th Anniversary of the Sentencing Reform Act

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means
1100 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C.

Agenda and speakers below:

Hillary fell and broke her elbow and will have surgery next week. Let's send some good thoughts her way.

It's barbecue night here. Which means an open thread for you. All topics welcome.

The ACLU has a lot of news today I didn't get to blog about.

• Report Confirms Continued Dragnet Collection Of Americans’ Communications

• Obama Administration Should Release CIA Inspector General Report Without Substantial Redactions, Says ACLU. Apparently, the Newly Released Detainee Statements Provide More Evidence Of CIA Torture Program (CIA Continues To Suppress Information From Detainee Tribunals With Heavy Redactions)

And, in the mail: a new novel, The Legal Limit, about a drug offender who faces a moral quandry and laws that always do justice. I can't tell yet if it's a pro-prosecution book or not. If you've already read it, let me know:[More...]

Attorney General Eric Holder told the Senate today the Administration will begin allowing more ICE agents to make drug busts.

So much for a new direction for the War on Drugs. Where's our legislation ending the crack disparity and eliminating some mandatory minimums? Obviously, on the back burner, once again.

AT&T is giving an inch in the new iPhone upgrade wars. Now, if you spend $99 a month or more (pdf), you should "generally" be eligible to upgrade after 12 to 18 months.

One big problem: They've sold out of the new phones. But they say starting tomorrow, they may have a few more. You can check your upgrade status starting tomorrow here.

If you qualify for the best upgrade pricing, you will pay $199 for the 16GB model and $299 for the 32GB model--these are the same prices AT&T will charge new customers signing up for a two-year contract. If you don't fall into either of those categories, you may be eligible for what AT&T calls its "early upgrade pricing": $399 and $499 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively.

A federal grand jury has issued a subpoena to the Las Vegas Review Journal seeking the identity of anonymous online commenters:

The subpoena seeks the identities and personal information about people who posted comments on the story. The newspaper said prosecutors told the judge in the case that some comments hinted at acts of violence and the subpoena was issued out of concern for jurors' safety.

The grand jury is investigating possible tax offenses against business owner Robert Kahre. The paper said it will fight the subpoena. [More...]

For civil service employees, domestic partners of federal employees can be added to the long-term care insurance program; supervisors can also be required to allow employees to use their sick leave to take care of domestic partners and non-biological, non-adopted children. For foreign service employees, a number of benefits were identified, including the use of medical facilities at posts abroad, medical evacuation from posts abroad, and inclusion in family size for housing allocations.

More on President Obama's planned executive order on extending benefits to same sex partners of federal employees: It excludes most health care benefits. Via Politico:[More...]

Hump day.

This is an Open Thread.

Colorado experienced its first major medical marijuana dispensary robbery today. New Options Wellness in Boulder was robbed at gunpoint around this afternoon. There were no injuries but everything was taken. [More...]