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By Bill Boyarsky
$12.15
By Emma Donoghue
$13.72
$35
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gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
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The National Security Archive at George Washington University has posted documents on its website that expose ugly activities by the CIA before reforms were made in the 1970s. The secrecy watchdog says the agency violated its charter for 25 years by spying on journalists and political dissidents, in addition to engaging in other nefarious activities.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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Convicted perjurer I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby has been sentenced to 30 months in prison, a $250,000 fine and two years of probation, pending appeal and the inevitable pardon.
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By Elizabeth de la Vega — With his sentencing looming, it appears that I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby—one of the highest White House officials ever convicted of a felony—has learned precisely nothing from his trial and conviction on charges of false statements, obstruction of justice, and perjury. Note: originally published on TomDispatch.
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AP Photo / Ron Edmonds
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By Scott Ritter — The former weapons inspector and author of “Waging Peace” argues that the mere impeachment of President Bush would fail to repair the damage caused by an executive branch run amok and an uninformed and uninvolved citizenry.
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In an apparent rebuke to the Supreme Court’s recent abortion decision, retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor told Fox News that the law “shouldn’t change just because the faces on the court have changed.” O’Connor, who time and again swung the court in favor of a woman’s right to choose, also criticized lawmakers who try to put political pressure on the judicial process.
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AP Photo / Evan Vucci
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By Chris Hedges — When it comes to abortion, the Christian right presents a false choice between self-condemnation and a life of struggle. Until the impoverished and imperiled, so frequently driven into the arms of demagogues, are truly cared for, the freedom of all women will be at risk.
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On Wednesday a group of activists, politicians, writers and thinkers came together in Washington to call for the impeachment of the president. Among them were Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, Daniel Ellsberg and Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges, who argued that the president must be held accountable for his repeated violations of the rule of law, both at home and abroad.
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By Ellen Goodman — The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected decades of precedent and the rights of women to satisfy an ideological agenda. Is it any wonder that those most eager to legislate the womb are the lawmakers and judges without one?
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A federal judge has ruled that Florida’s Okeechobee High School must grant the same privileges to the Gay-Straight Alliance that it grants to other student clubs.
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A 21-year-old Floridian was arrested in Orlando for feeding a group of 30 homeless people. It is illegal in Orlando to feed more than 25 destitute people without a permit, which can be obtained only twice a year. As if to drive home the absurdity of the law, authorities took a sample of Eric Montanez’s illegal stew for evidence.
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AP Photo / Brennan Linsley
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By Robert Scheer — The Supreme Court may not be interested in applying American values to Guantanamo Bay, but at least one soldier has taken a principled stand against the prison’s tortured justice system.
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inhs.info
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ITT, the premier night vision equipment supplier to the U.S. military, will pay $100 million in fines for violating the Arms Exports Control Act by sending sensitive information to China, Singapore and Britain without permission. The U.S. attorney in charge of the case said American soldiers were the “principal victims of ITT’s crimes.”
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Yet another court has ruled against the 1994 Child Online Protection Act, a major victory for civil rights advocates. The law has been a mess from the start. With the stated goal of protecting kids from pornography, it would punish offending websites with $50,000 fines and jail time for exposing children to “harmful” material, whether intentionally or not. Innocent sites like Salon and BoingBoing could’ve been targeted under the legislation.
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By Marie Cocco — By repeatedly attacking the integrity of elections, Republicans have managed to disenfranchise the voters whose votes they’re unlikely to get.
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An internal Justice Department investigation has documented multiple abuses by the FBI in obtaining the private records of U.S. residents. Even with the broad powers of the Patriot Act in place, the bureau is still required to certify that the phone, e-mail and financial documents it seeks are at least related to investigations of terrorism or intelligence activities.
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By Joe Conason — The plot to eliminate politically inconvenient U.S. attorneys was a direct assault on the integrity of American justice, and its architects should be investigated and punished accordingly.
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The Cherokee nation has voted against recognizing the descendants of former slaves, despite a tribal supreme court ruling to the contrary last year. Of the estimated 250,000 to 270,000 members, 8,700 took part in the election. Defenders of the decision say they have a right to determine the nation’s makeup without interference from the U.S. government or others.
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bradblog.com
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Members of the House Judiciary Committee have said they will dust off that discarded tool of congressional inquiry, the subpoena. The committee is investigating the Justice Department’s allegedly partisan hiring and firing of U.S. attorneys.
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answers.com
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The New York City Council has symbolically banned the use of the word nigger. The resolution, though unenforceable, is meant to defy the word’s popularity among young people, though, as the BBC points out, an “edict from elected officials” is unlikely to have much of an impact.
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A federal appeals court has upheld the Military Commissions Act, denying Guantanamo detainees access to the U.S. judicial system. Attorneys for the detainees said they would appeal the 2-1 decision, which fell along party lines, to the Supreme Court.
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news.bbc.co.uk
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The European Union is about to unveil plans to further criminalize anti-environmental behavior, allowing the courts to imprison violators responsible for negligent pollution, among other crimes. The policy change demonstrates the growing power of the European Commission over member states.
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AP Photo / Benjamin Sklar
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Josh Wolf has been in prison for more than 170 days—longer than any other journalist in modern history. The freelance videographer and blogger has been held since he refused to hand over footage of WTO protesters to authorities because, he says, the precedent would make journalists “de facto deputies and investigators” for law enforcement.
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There can be no doubt after multiple witnesses and now audio recordings from Libby himself that the White House was hopping mad about Joe Wilson’s assertion that the administration cherry-picked intelligence to make the case for war. On the tapes, Libby describes the vice president as “upset” and “disturbed” over what he considered a political assault.
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asianews.it
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Four hundred thirty-three foreigners were arrested by Saudi Arabia’s religious police for attending a party that served alcohol and allowed men and women to dance together. So far, 20 have been sentenced to lashings and months of prison time. (Photo above involves a separate case.)
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from commondreams.org
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The court-martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse to go to Iraq, began on Monday with the judge refusing to allow most of the defense’s witnesses to testify. Watada’s civilian lawyer, Eric Seitz, had some harsh words for the judge: “If you are going to tie my hands and you are going to script these proceedings, then in my view we’re all wasting our time.”
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secureidnews.com
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The Real ID Act of 2005 requires all states to meet a national standard for identification cards and participate in a shared database, but some have objected, citing privacy and budget concerns. Maine has led the charge of about a dozen states that may pass laws objecting to and opting out of the federal mandate.
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peakpeak.com
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A jury has found the city of Seattle liable for the unlawful arrests of roughly 175 protesters during the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting, which attracted 50,000 activists. The demonstrators in question were arrested while sitting and singing in a “no protest” park.
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law.fordham.edu
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A judge has ruled that a Florida doctor can be prosecuted under federal law for vowing to treat members of al-Qaida. Dr. Rafiq Abdus Sabir argued unsuccessfully that the Constitution protects a doctor’s right to perform medical services.
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smh.com.au
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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is exploiting a loophole in the Patriot Act to appoint U.S. attorneys whose principal qualification is their loyalty to the Bush administration. Recently a number of attorneys have been fired, apparently to make way for Bush-friendly replacements.
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from Bradblog.com
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You may recall that right-wing hate-monger Ann Coulter was accused of voter fraud not too long ago, for registering to vote using her real estate agent’s address. Now it turns out she may have used the same address to register a driver’s license—meaning Coulter could be charged with two third-degree felonies and one misdemeanor, if only someone would prosecute the case.
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The lawyers for Adel Hamad, a Guantanamo detainee, put together this video after traveling the globe to verify his story. After five years, the notion that potentially innocent men continue to be held without charge or trial undermines the very decency of our society.
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from Fark.com
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Adding to a long list of subversive signing statements, George W. Bush has taken the knees out from under recently passed postal legislation that requires a warrant to open mail. You’d think with his army of advisers and aides someone might explain to the president that when Congress passes a law, and he signs it, that’s the law, not a prompt for interpretive rule.
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mikelevin.com
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California’s Global Warming Solutions Act requires the state to cut emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. Industrialists and environmentalists alike are watching intently as the world’s seventh-largest economy prepares to meet that goal—assuming the landmark law survives numerous court challenges.
Posted on Dec 25, 2006
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cbc.ca
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“Scooter” Libby’s defense team said it intends to call Vice President Dick Cheney to testify on its behalf in the high-profile perjury trial that resulted from an investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity. The vice president’s spokeswoman indicated that he would comply with the request: “We’ve cooperated fully in this matter and will continue to do so in fairness to the parties involved.”
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Both houses of New Jersey’s Legislature have approved the creation of civil unions, granting the protections of marriage to gay couples as required by a recent court ruling. The governor has said he will sign the bill, making New Jersey the third state to adopt civil unions.
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Abortions were already illegal in Nicaragua, but today a law passed removing an exception in the previous law, which allowed a woman to obtain an abortion legally with the approval of three doctors who confirmed that the woman’s life was in danger. Many conservatives in government advocated 30-year prison terms for women who terminate their pregnancies and the doctors who perform the abortions, but the stricter prison terms did not pass. Currently the punishment is a six-year prison term. An estimated 32,000 illegal abortions are performed in Nicaragua each year.
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We could be wrong, but it appears Tony Snow just defended Condi Rice for recognizing the mother of a new White House appointee’s gay partner as his “mother-in-law.” (h/t AMERICAblog) More after the jump…
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From murkyview.com
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He’s done it again: After signing into law a bill that would mandate minimum requirements for the new FEMA director, Bush added a “signing statement” that declared those requirements null and invalid. (more…)
Update: ThinkProgress has the statement
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From Matt Groller / Rolling Stone
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Rolling Stone presents one of the most harrowing stories we’ve read all year: a blow-by-blow description of the experience of a teenage jihadist who has been tortured by Americans in Gitmo for the past four years.
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Lawyers for 25 men being held in Afghanistan filed a habeas corpus petition in advance of Bush’s plan to outlaw that exact motion.
If Congress isn’t going to stand up to Bush on this travesty of a law, it’s good to see that some parties are.
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As expected, the Senate sent the despicable detainee interrogation bill to the president’s desk last night. See its horrifying provisions here.
As long as this law stands, we too shall stand in forfeit of the moral high ground in this struggle. It’s a sad day for our once-proud republic.
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This version of the president’s warrantless eavesdropping bill—which appears headed for passage—will apparently still allow Bush the option of submitting his surveillance programs to a court for review.
Posted on Sep 26, 2006
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The editorial boards of the N.Y. Times and the Washington Post, along with First Amendment lawyer Glen Greenwald, condemned the interrogation bill agreed upon by the president and a group of GOP senators.
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Bangkokpost.net
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Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led a military coup in Thailand on Tuesday against controversial Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has promised to relinquish power in two weeks. After declaring martial law and abolishing every branch of the democratically elected government, the military announced it would appoint an interim prime minister and legislature that would draft a new constitution, with an election to be held in one year.
Posted on Sep 20, 2006
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Béatrice de Géa / LAT
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With the governor’s signature, California becomes the fourth state to ban drivers from holding cellphones while driving. The law goes into effect in July 2008, and motorists will still be allowed to use hands-free phone technology.
Cool tidbit: Schwarzenegger said he sometimes follows his 16-year-old daughter to make sure she’s not driving while holding a phone.
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Three Questions Left Unanswered by Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech
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