The report on 2008 wiretaps has just been released. Of the 1,891 applications, none were denied. Applications dropped by 14% this year. 95% of those granted were for cell phones and portable devices. A whopping 84% were in drug cases. The full report is available here (pdf) and the tables here.

A total of 1,891 applications to federal and state judges for orders authorizing the interception of wire, oral or electronic communications were reported in 2008. No applications were denied. This is a 14 percent decrease in the total of applications reported, compared to 2007. Fewer states—22 states compared to 24 in 2007—reported wiretap activity and the number of applications approved by state judges, 1,505, was down 14 percent from 2007. Federal judges approved 386 applications, down 16 percent from 2007.

The most common form of interceptions sought: Telephones (as opposed to oral (bugs) or solely electronic devices.) They accounted for 97% of the orders. As for cost: [More...]

Via Atrios, we will own GM:

The U.S. Treasury would own at least a 50 percent stake in General Motors under a plan the company released today to avoid bankruptcy. The strategy would essentially formalize the government's control over one of the icons of corporate America. . . . Under the outlines announced yesterday, the federal government would take an equity stake of at least 50 percent, the United Auto Workers would take as much as 39 percent, the company's bondholders would get 10 percent and the existing shareholders 1 percent.

Think of it as a massive jobs program. Now, how about Citi?

Speaking for me only

I have had an extensive exchange of communications with Stuart Taylor about my post yesterday. Taylor makes some good points about my characterization (to be clear, the views expressed in that post are solely my responsibility and in no way reflect on any other writers at this site) of his views and they deserve a fair response. For the moment, I want to apologize to him for calling him a liar in that post - it is clear he believes what he wrote and my charge of mendacity was unfair and uncalled for. He also brought forth some information that I need to respond to. My general views on the subject have not changed. But, in fairness to Taylor, I need to address his points in a more civil and comprehensive fashion. I will do so by no later than tomorrow.

This is an Open Thread.

I just was on a call sponsored by People For the American Way, Alliance for Justice, National Women's Law Center, and NARAL Pro-Choice America regarding the war being waged by extremist Right Wing groups against Dawn Johnsen, President Obama's nominee to head the Office of Legal Counsel in the Justice Department. As we have learned, the OLC is a very important part of any administration. Ms. Johnsen's views on torture and the right to choose have made her a prime target of the Right Wing machine.

Clinton Administration Solicitor General (and OLC head) Walter Dellinger and conservative legal scholar Doug Kmiec, who served as the head of the OLC during the Reagan Administration, spoke in support of Ms. Johnsen. In addition, Aviva Orenstein, Professor of Law at the Indiana University Mauer School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, a colleague of Johnsen's, also spoke on her behalf. More . . .

Today, the Supreme Court rejected Sal Magluta's petition for cert to review his 195 year sentence. His crime: non-violent money laundering of $730,000.

As I wrote here the day Sal Magluta was resentenced to 195 years in prison, his original case (along with his then co-defendant Willy Falcon) was the most fascinating one I recall from the 70's-90's years of legal cases involving Miami and "cocaine cowboys." Like many criminal defense attorneys around the country, I followed as many details of the trials and appeals as I could. It had dozens of twists and turns and was the subject of many lectures and discussions at defense lawyer seminars for years afterward.

It wasn't just famous as a drug dealing case.
[More...]

Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham:

[T]o pursue criminal charges against officials at the highest levels—including the former president and the former vice president—would set a terrible precedent. . . . That is not to say presidents and vice presidents are always above the law; there could be instances in which such a prosecution is appropriate, but based on what we know, this is not such a case.

True enough - war crimes and torture are not really all that bad in the scheme of things, lawbreaking wise. After all, Presidents and Vice Presidents are usually above the law, Meacham tells us. It's not like having private consensual sex (oh wait, that's not a crime.) The Village is incredible.

Speaking for me only

High Broderism works its "magic:"

Famously, Maine Senator Collins, the supposedly moderate Republican who demanded cuts in health care spending in exchange for her support of a watered-down version of the stimulus, fumed about the pandemic funding: "Does it belong in this bill? Should we have $870 million in this bill No, we should not."

The Republicans essentially succeeded. The Senate version of the stimulus plan included no money whatsoever for pandemic preparedness. In the conference committee that reconciled the House and Senate plans, Obey and his allies succeeded in securing $50 million for improving information systems at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). But state and local governments, and the emergency services that would necessarily be on the frontlines in any effort to contain a pandemic, got nothing.

When policy does not matter, when High Broderism reigns supreme, this is the result.

Speaking for me only

Krugman:

Still, you might argue that we have a free-market economy, and it’s up to the private sector to decide how much its employees are worth. But this brings me to my second point: Wall Street is no longer, in any real sense, part of the private sector. It’s a ward of the state, every bit as dependent on government aid as recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a k a “welfare.”

But we need those Masters of The Universe, Krugman! Get with the program!

Speaking for me only

CQ's Jeff Stein continues to be the vehicle for the Republican attacks on Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA). Now Politico's Glenn Thrush joins the GOP team:

Many Republicans obliged, led by former CIA chief Porter Goss, who is accusing Democrats like Pelosi of “amnesia” for demanding investigations in 2009 after failing to raise objections seven years ago when she first learned of the legal basis for the program.

There is the line of attack on Pelosi, who is not afraid of the truth -- she is calling for a Truth Commission. But getting Pelosi is not enough. Jane Harman, who objected to torture at the time, also needs to be smeared. And CQ's Jeff Stein is the vehicle for it. More . . .

It's snowing here again and will be throughout tomorrow. At least I got in a 45 minute walk early this morning when the temperature was still in the 50's.

I see that torture and the swine flue have been the primary topics this weekend. We have a petition ad on the right that I hope you will all sign on to.

Other than that, I'm hoping to work from home due to the weather tomrrow...so glad I didn't put off seeing my jail clients on Friday.

What other news, political or personal has moved you this weekend? If there is any, here's a place to talk about it.

To their credit, prosecutors agree with Gary Alvin Richard's defense attorney that an analyst from the Houston Police Department's troubled crime lab "misled jurors at Richard’s trial and failed to report evidence that may have helped him." Based on new blood tests, both sides will ask a judge next week to release Richard on bond while prosecutors decide whether his sexual assault charge -- for which Richard has been imprisoned for 22 years -- should be dismissed.

Richard’s case abounds with issues common to wrongful convictions. Among them: The victim identified him some seven months after the attack. HPD crime lab analysts came to conflicting conclusions about the evidence, but reported only the results favorable to the case. Physical evidence collected in what is known as a “rape kit” has been destroyed, a victim of poor evidence preservation practices, leaving nothing for DNA testing now.

Also to his her credit, District Attorney Pat Lykos continues to lobby for the creation of a crime lab that would operate independently, not under the auspices of a police department. That request is a no-brainer. Scientists should base their conclusions on science, not on whether the science helps or hurts the charges that police and prosecutors would like to bring. It's time for the Texas legislature to listen to Lykos.

A few months ago, TalkLeft took note of Oakland's desire to fire eleven lazy police officers who found it easier to lie in search warrant applications than to do the work necessary to make their sworn statements truthful. The falsified affidavits resulted in illegal raids against a number of suspected drug dealers and caused sixteen prosecutions to be dismissed, not to mention the two civil rights suits that have been filed against the city.

Last week, Oakland managed to fire four of the eleven.

The terminations, which were officially approved by City Administrator Dan Lindheim, came shortly after an investigation by an independent hearing officer found that seven other officers accused of falsifying warrants should not be fired.

The four who were fired will continue to contest their terminations because, according to one of their attorneys, there was insufficient evidence of intentional misconduct. Their theory seems to be that they were never trained to tell the truth when they swore that they were telling the truth. Perhaps the police academy needs to add a brief training session on the meaning of the word "oath."