I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon telling me my affiliate account is being dropped because Colorado passed a law requiring sales tax on internet purchases. Amazon wants Coloradans to work to get the law repealed. In the meantime, it is cancelling all business and affiliate accounts that do business with them.

The affiliates, ranging from online booksellers to individual bloggers who advertise Amazon on their websites to receive a commission in return, were both angry and confused by the move. And some say they were not notified.

Judith Briles, chief executive officer of Mile High Press, a book publisher in Aurora, says:

"Amazon is going to get horrendous publicity for this. But there are two bad guys: Amazon and the lawmakers who moved this legislation through so fast."

It was odd they canceled the accounts immediately. And I liked doing business with Amazon, even though their referral rates are really low. [More...]

I'm off to see Bon Jovi at the Pepsi Center in Denver. I talked the TL kid into going with me, and his dad gave us great seats.

I'm sorry (not) to miss Jason and Molly's wedding on TV, but I have "24" and "Life Unexpected" Tivo'd.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The LA Times has an article on Justice Clarence's rejection of prisoner brutality claims under the theory the inmates hadn't show substantial physical damage.

According to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a prisoner who was slammed to a concrete floor and punched and kicked by a guard after asking for a grievance form -- but suffered neither serious nor permanent harm -- has no claim that his constitutional rights were violated.

The Times notes that at one time, John Yoo was Justice Thomas' law clerk.

Thomas' consistent record of dismissing claims of prison brutality, most of them joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, shows that Yoo's view of torture was not that of a rogue lawyer. Instead, it represents a strain of conservative thinking that looks back in history to define cruelty and torture, rather than toward what the court has called the "evolving standards of decency."

[More...]

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis wrote a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the recent federal raids on medical marijuana in Colorado.

Tuesday, Polis sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to instruct agents to abide by the Justice Department's Oct. 19 directive to allow deference to state laws on legalized medical marijuana use, or to clarify the new position.

Polis sent a copy of the letter to President Obama. He posted his letter today on Square State. (Why don't they promote it to the front page from the diaries?) I'm reprinting it below: [More...]

A condition of probation is that the offender not commit any violations of state or federal law. So what happens when a person is put on probation and they are a state licensed medical marijuana user?

Boulder, Colorado has created new guidelines for probationers, allowing them to continue using the drug. The guidelines treat medical marijuana like any other prescribed drug.

Medical-marijuana cardholders who are sentenced to probation will be allowed to continue using the drug medicinally while serving their sentence as long as they meet several conditions and allow a probation officer to view their medical records, according to the new guidelines.

More....

Kristen Diane Parker, the hospital surgical tech who stole vials of the painkiller fentanyl intended for patients from the operating room of a Denver hospital, injected them and then filled and replaced the vials with saline solution, infecting some patients with the Hepatitis C virus, was sentenced today in federal court in Denver to 30 years in prison.

Last month, the judge rejected the 20 year plea agreement between Parker and the Government because he didn't think 20 years was enough, and offered to allow her to withdraw her guilty plea. She decided to stick with her plea.

A U.S. Magistrate Judge this afternoon granted bond to Chris Bartkowicz, arrested last weekend after DEA raided his residence, having seen a news story about him on TV in which he claimed to be growing legally under Colorado law.

The Government had requested Bartkowicz be detained without bond pending trial. A hearing will be held tomorrow morning on his lawyers' motion to require the DEA to preserve the plants.

The judge set bond in the amount of $10,000.00 cash. He will also be on electronic monitoring. [More...]

On Saturday I wrote about Chris Bartkowicz, a medical marijuana grower who, believing he was in compliance with Colorado law, showed his grow to a local news station doing a story on marijuana cultivation in the Denver suburbs, and was promptly busted by the DEA.

The case has caused a big stir, mostly because of DEA Agent Jeffrey Sweetin's initial comments that contradict the Department of Justice memorandum (pdf)issued by Deputy Attorney General David Ogden in October, implementing a DOJ policy change that was widely heralded around the country. Sweetin on Friday night said:

Nothing in federal law has changed. Wanting federal law to be different is not a great strategy....We will continue to enforce federal law, that's what we're paid to do, until the federal law changes.The only exception to that is discretion and department guidance."

9 News in Denver was doing an investigative report on marijuana growing in the suburbs. A marijuana patient named Chris Bartkowicz who lives in a $600,000 home volunteered to participate. He said he wanted to show how marijuana growing could be done legally. He gave the news team a tour of his basement which had 2,000 square feet of growing plants. He showed them licenses and the licenses of those to whom he provided marijuana (Under Colorado's Constitution, every patient can have six plants, and patients can designate a caregiver to provide the plants to them. So a caregiver with 100 patients can grow 600 plants.)

The station ran a "tease" of the report Wednesday night. Yesterday, the DEA paid Bartkowicz a visit and took away all his plants and equipment.

[More...]

Charlie Sheen and his wife Brooke Mueller appeared in court in Aspen today. Sheen was advised of his rights on a complaint (pdf) charging felony menacing and two misdemeanors, third degree assault and criminal mischief. All three counts contain a domestic violence component. The criminal mischief count pertains to Sheen's alleged breaking of two of Mueller's pairs of eyeglasses, valued together at between $500 and $1000.00.

The Judge modified the mandatory protective order so the couple can be together. Sheen is taking anger management classes, and the next court date will be the arraignment on March 15, when Sheen will have to plead guilty or not guilty. [More...]

Goodbye fingerprinting, hello iris scans.

Fingerprinting a suspect is so last year. Arapahoe County [Colorado]Sheriff Grayson Robinson unveiled new technology today that will allow officials to scan an arrestee's iris and within seconds get all the pertinent information about the person.

Funding comes from a $10,000 grant from the National Sheriffs' Association. Arapahoe County is the first recipient to install the program. Why they love it: [More...]

Updated: From an email press release from the Aspen Sheriff's on Charlie Sheen, it looks like charges will be filed against him, one of which seems likely to be a felony. The press release mentions the two felony charges and misdemeanor he was arrested for, but stops short of saying whether all or some of those will be the actual charges filed. Previously, the DA said he wouldn't decide whether to charge him until shortly before his Feb. 8 hearing. TMZ says he will be charged with Felony Menacing.

Prediction: When all is said and done, he'll plead to a felony under a deferred judgment and a misdemeanor. The misdemeanor plea will prevent him from getting his record sealed.

Update below: