Jeralyn E. Merritt is criminal defense attorney in Denver representing persons accused of serious federal and state offenses. She served as one of the principal trial lawyers for Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City Bombing Case.

She has served as Secretary, Treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as well as on the ABA Criminal Justice Section Council and the Board of Governors of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers.

She is co-author of a treatise on the U.S.A. Patriot Act, published by Lexis-Nexis. She has testified before both Congress and the United States Sentencing Commission on drug sentencing laws.

From 2001 through 2003, she was a Lecturer in Law at the Denver University College of Law teaching "Wrongful Convictions" and "Criminal Defense."

She is the creator of CrimeLynx, an internet resource for legal professionals and TalkLeft: The Politics of Crime. All entries on TalkLeft are written by her, except those that specify at the top that they are written by TChris or Last Night in Little Rock. She is also an online contributor for Denver's 5280 Magazine, where she blogs on Colorado issues.

She lectures nationally on a variety of legal and political topics and has been a cable television legal analyst since 1996, most frequently appearing on MSNBC and Fox News. A more detailed list of appearances is available here.

Speaker fees are available upon request. If you would like Ms. Merritt to speak to your organization, or write a commentary piece for your publication, please contact her directly.

E-Mail: talkleft-at-aol-dot-com.

TalkLeft was dysfunctional for some hours today when good samaritan Mike Ditto converted the archives to Movable Type's dynamic pages ....it's way too technical for me, all I know is it didn't work--probably because TalkLeft gets too much traffic for the cpu, memory capacity and MySQL capacity of the server we're on. So, we're back to static pages. A big thanks to Mike who successfully converted the site to php, only to have to change it back when it was too much for the server.

Mike asks,

Update: Both spaces now filled until October 9 and 10, respectively.

TalkLeft's two premium ad spots will be opening up tomorrow and Sunday. One is on the top left, under our logo. The other is on the top right of the site. Each spot is limited to one ad at a time. Our readership has grown significantly since the political conventions this summer, and we invite advertisers to take advantage of the space during these last few weeks before the election.

You can place your ad here for Premium ad space on the left.
Here for the Premium space on the right.

Blog commenters, take note. The mainstream media is reading not just what bloggers write, but their readers' comments. From an Associated Press article 9/27/04 (available at Lexis.com)about the ACLU's attempt to get out the former felon vote in Idaho.

The civil rights organization wants former inmates living in Idaho to know that their right to vote was reinstated when they got out of prison and finished parole and probation. A person convicted of a misdemeanor doesn't ever lose their right to vote. "A lot of people seem to be misinformed," Durand said. "They think that if they're convicted, they can never vote again, or have to petition the governor or petition the courts."

The AP quotes a commenter on TalkLeft:

"I live in Idaho and am a voting ex-felon," one former inmate said in an e-mail to TalkLeft, an Internet site on the politics of crime. "I was under the impression I could not vote until 2003, even though I had finished my sentence around 1997-1998." The ex-inmate, who did not sign his or her name, said being able to vote gives a sense of being in the community again. "It can produce a connectedness where none existed before and a belief that the system can change," the e-mail said.

A big step,I think. It's also a reminder that the Internet has no eraser, so remember that your comments may last forever. Here's the post with the quoted comment.

[Note: The online version of the article omits mention of TalkLeft and the reader's comment.]

Bump and Update: Let's all blog live during the debate and after. Use the comments to this thread to expose Bush's lies and debunk the Republican spin from the debate. Don't wait for me, just jump on it.

Don't forget to visit Rapid Reblogger. Also, a wiki has been set up at whoarethey.org.

Bump and Update: You can watch the debate live on the internet on C-span, here is the direct link. After the debate, the transcript will be available here.

****************
Original Post

Here's an open thread to discuss tonight's debate. It's the news of the day, so barring something big, TalkLeft will stick with this topic until tomorrow.

The Republicans are geared up for rapid response on the internet. Dems need to be as well.

PayPal has redeemed itself. Bill Quick of the Daily Pundit objected to having his account limited due to mentioning a beheading video. He didn't remove it. He wrote an e-mail complaining and refused to follow their appeals process and insisted he had not violated their terms of use policy. He received an apology from PayPal today. And a phone call.

With respect to the same limitation being placed on TalkLeft's account, I went a more Machiavellian route. I removed the offending link, to ensure I would be reinstated right away, which I was, and then withdrew my funds. I left for another day the question of whether to continue to use Paypal.

I didn't receive a phone call, but I did receive a survey to complete about the experience and how PayPal could better handle these situations in the future. It included a space for as long a comment as I wanted to make. I made a long one, complaining about PayPal's limiting the account before asking the account owner for an explanation or defense. That's due process...notice of the charges and an opportunity to be heard--before any punitive action is taken. But, I have to admit, I was reinstated within 18 hours of their initial action, which is fairly responsive.

Also, I agree with Bill Quick:

The Guardian today presents the first weekly column by Markos of Daily Kos.

Chris Bowers, who writes for Daily Kos and My DD, has a new idea. Lefty bloggers should pool together and apply for a seat in the White House briefing room.

Twenty-four hours later and the blogosphere is still reflecting on Billmon's op-ed to the LA Times on the commercialization of bloggers and how it contributed to his decision to take a break. I contributed my two cents on Billmon's post yesterday. Today we hear from the left-of-center masters.

This morning, Kos weighed in. I agree with him completely. Tonight, Atrios provided his thoughts, which are more like pearls of wisdom to aspriring bloggers.

If you're new to blogging, go read them both. They're the stars, our blog-fathers. Which is not to say you need to aspire to their heights--only that they demonstrate what it takes to reach them. Neither expected or even sought these pinnacles, but there's a reason they acheived them--and it's not just a matter of being in the right place at the right time, writing about the topic du jour. All it takes to understand their success, should you aspire to it, is to read them throughout the day and evening. Once a day doesn't do either of them justice.

Here's a few snippets of advice Atrios had tonight for new bloggers:

Say hello to What She Said...a new blog by and about women bloggers.

The next time some guy asks you where all the female bloggers are, tell them What She Said!

Check out their all-female blogroll, it's huge. Credit for the site goes to Morgaine Swann of The Goddess, who has been working very hard (with several helpers) for months building it. And Jeanne D'Arc of Body and Soul who has been writing about it--and from whom I learned about it.

Paypal has reinstated TalkLeft's account. So, whose advice did I follow? Those of you who said delete the objectionable post, make sure I get my money, then decide whether to leave Paypal. All of your suggestions are very much appreciated. I thought about them all before deciding.

Update: Bill Quick of The Daily Pundit got a similar missive from Paypal. He's angry and has refused to give in and is taking his paypal links down.

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Original Post 9/23/04

Unbelievable. This e-mail from paypal was in TalkLeft's email box today. Shorter version: TalkLeft's paypal account is restricted because of a link to a beheading video.

We appreciate the fact that you chose PayPal to send and receive payments for your transactions.

However, your account has been limited for violating PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy regarding Offensive Material. The Policy prohibits the use of PayPal in the sale of items or in support of organizations that promote hate, violence, or racial intolerance; items which graphically portray violence or victims of violence; or items closely associated with individuals notorious for committing murderous acts within the last 100 years. Further, PayPal prohibits a person convicted of a violent felony, or his relatives or associates, from using PayPal to benefit financially from the convict's criminal notoriety. The complete Acceptable Use Policy
addressing Offensive Material can be found at the following URL:

To appeal the limitation on your account, you will need to:

1. Remove those items from your website that violate PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. For example, any links to obtain the Eugene Armstrong begeading video; and

2. Submit the online Acceptable Use Policy affidavit.

TalkLeft's premium ad space on the right will be available tomorrow. I've lowered the price in case anyone is interested. The space is limited to one ad at a time.

Your turn, have at it. Try not to feed the trolls, there are several lurking in the shadows.