JONATHAN TURLEY

On Friday night, the defense filed a series of pre-trial motions challenging the two-count indictment against Dr. Sami Al-Arian. The filing includes charges of prosecutorial abuse and selective prosecution. The filings are below — as is the government’s single pre-trial motion.
Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian Files Pre-Trial Motions Alleging Prosecutorial Abuse and Constitutional Violations’

Congressional hearings have revealed that John Yoo was the favored candidate to lead the Office of Legal Counsel at the Justice Department based on a single resume item: his tolerance and support of torture. Alberto Gonzales and Cheney aide David S. Addington fought former Attorney General John Ashcroft, who submitted five names for the position that conspicuously omitted Yoo’s name.

Continue reading ‘Earning Your Bona Fides in the Bush Bada Bing Club: Administration Officials Pushed for Yoo to Head OLC Based on His Support for Torture’

With the Democratic leadership continuing to block any impeachment effort or any serious effort to hold officials liable for the U.S. torture program, Congress was free to hold another bizarre hearing today to calmly discussed our use of torture. Even though current Attorney General continues to evade the question, former Attorney General acknowledged and defended water boarding.

Continue reading ‘Ashcroft Defends Waterboarding — Congress Calmly Discusses the U.S. Torture Program’

Another abuse story is emerging from the Middle East on the treatment of young girls. Nujood Ali, 10, was married to a man in his 30s, who then allegedly raped her. While she is now divorced, she has been criticized for confronting her husband and not accepting her fate. Not only was she denounced by some for not obeying her husband, but under Islamic Sharia law in Yemen, her family had to compensate the accused rapist.

Continue reading ‘Ten-Year-Old Girl in Yemen Married and Then Raped — Then Divorced’

A very disturbing case has emerged from Florida where police entrapped Frank Milio, a 94-year-old man suffering from dementia. What is remarkable is that prosecutors did not drop these charges. It took a judge to throw them out — allowing Milio to move into an assisted care facility. He is not the only geriatric scooped up by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, which seems to developing a reputation for entrapping the elderly. Frank Underhill, 93 (pictured here), was arrested in the same operation.

Continue reading ‘Florida Judge Finds Police Entrapped 94-Year-Old Man With Dementia in Prostitution Sting’

In the last hearing, Prosecutor Gordon Kromberg indicated that Dr. Al-Arian was being charged with his refusal to answer questions from his Florida trial — not questions related to the IIIT investigation. Indeed, as these affidavits established, Dr. Al-Arian voluntarily answered every question on IIIT and addressed every documents in the IIIT investigation. He then submitted a second affidavit answering questions beyond IIIT. Both statements were made under oath and Dr. Al-Arian repeatedly offered to take a polygraph examination to prove that he was not withholding information. We have decided to release the affidavits publicly after they were filed this week in court.
Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian: Affidavits Filed With the Court Show Government Seeks to Re-Argue Florida Trial’

On one level, Sarah E. Muller was successful. Muller, 23, did not want to serve on a jury at the Marion County Courthouse Monday. When County Judge R. James McCune Jr. refused to dismiss her, she called him a seven-letter word for an anus. She is now off the jury list and facing a potential six months in jail for contempt.

Continue reading ‘How Not to Avoid Jury Duty: Florida Women Curses Judge and Goes to Jail’

Last week, the defense filed papers showing that, despite claims of the prosecutors in court to Judge Brinkema, the government has been aware of valid travel documents of Dr. Sami Al-Arian for weeks. Today’s filing, also made at the request of the court, shows that Dr. Al-Arian never waived his statutory rights with regard to pre-trial release. The filing is posted below.

Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian Newly Filed Papers Further Contradict Statements of the Justice Department’

In Martha’s Vineyard, they sure know how to punish a prince. Saudi prince, Bader Al Saud, 26, killed Orlando Ramos, 37, in a crosswalk while driving drunk without a valid license. His punishment was a year in a converted home and then he simply disappeared while on probation. He will not, however, be allowed to attend next year’s masked ball or “silly dress” event.

Continue reading ‘Royal Treatment: Saudi Prince Drives Drunk Without License and Kills a Man — Gets One Year in Converted Home in Martha’s Vineyard’

In a long-delayed action, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has filed genocide charges against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for a five-year campaign of violence in Darfur. It is a great moment for the rule of law and justice.

Continue reading ‘Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir Charged with Genocide’

When Ahmad Batebi appeared on the cover of the Economist nine year ago, the world was struck by the image of his holding up a shirt covered in the blood of another protester. The religious fanatics in Iran responded by arresting Batebi and torturing him. He was sentenced to death and then given a commuted sentence of 15 years. He recently escaped Iran to Iraq and is now in the United States.

Continue reading ‘Iranian Photographer and Protester Who Appeared in Famous Photo Escapes Iran After Years of Torture’

An explosive new book will disclose a Red Cross report that found that the Bush Administration committed clear acts of torture and that Bush Administration officials could be charged with war crimes. The book The book, “The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals,” by New Yorker writer Jane Mayer, gives details of the confidential report. I will be discussing its implications on MSNBC’s Countdown tonight. For the video, click here.
Continue reading ‘Book: Red Cross Informed Administration that Officials Could Be Tried for War Crimes’

In our bail hearing yesterday, prosecutor Gordon Kromberg spent a considerable amount of time telling the Court that no country wanted DR. Al-Arian and that he was akin to a “man with a country.” It was part of the government’s explanation that it had not violated its obligation to deport Dr. Al-Arian expeditiously under the plea agreement. Below is today’s filing showing that the government has known about the travel documents for weeks.
Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Alian Files Papers Contradicting Statements of Prosecutors in Court’

Lord Chief Justice Lord Phillips has declared that Islamic legal principles can be applied by courts to resolve certain family, marital, or contractual cases. In a speech at an East London mosque, Lord Phillips said that Sharia can be applied so long as it does not conflict with English law.

Continue reading ‘Lord Chief Justice Endorses Use of Sharia Law in Some Cases’

Dr. Al-Arian was arraigned today before United States District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Columbia. In court were three of Dr. Al-Arian’s children and, despite to changes to the hearing time, supporters of Dr. Al-Arian.

Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian Arraigned’

This evening the Justice Department issued indictments for Dr. Sami Al-Arian. Just yesterday in my testimony before the Judiciary Committee, I discussed Dr. Al-Arian’s case and the pattern of how the Justice Department has abused the grand jury system. As is eager to prove the pattern, the Justice Department indicted him despite his giving a full account of his knowledge of IIIT and his lack of any knowledge of any crime committed by IIIT or its officers. Our statement on the indictment is below.
Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian Indicted on Two Counts of Criminal Contempt’

The Second Amendment has always been like the lost continent of the Constitution. Well, today the Supreme Court discovered it — right between the first and third amendments — after 127 years. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment does indeed create an individual right to gun ownership. The opinion can be accessed here.

The Supreme Court also gave a victory to millionaires running for office who can finance their campaigns more freely — or buy guns more easily.

Continue reading ‘The Lost Constitutional Continent Found: Supreme Court Recognizes Individual Right of Gun Ownership’

This morning I will testify in the House Judiciary Committee on the Bush Administration’s record on prosecuting terrorism. The Justice Department continues to inflate the number of terrorism cases by citing such crimes as immigration violations and general fraud as terrorist-related. The result is to give a false impression that there is a great level of domestic terrorism than is truly the case. Below is the testimony (footnotes not included).
Continue reading ‘Body Count Culture: Testimony on the Bush Administration’s Record of Terrorism Prosecution’

In a remarkable admission, former Manhattan prosecutor Daniel Bibb has stated that he intentionally threw a murder case because he did not believe the evidence. The case against David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo has become a major embarrassment for District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who is seeking reelection. Lemus was later acquitted and the charges dropped against Hidalgo in the Palladium case.

Continue reading ‘New York Prosecutor Says He Intentionally Threw Murder Case’

The Supreme Court knows how to build suspense. While many expected the Court to release its long-awaiting decision on the Second Amendment in the Heller and Parker cases, the Court did not release the decision today. The array of opinions today has fueled speculation that Scalia will author the historic decision.

Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Holds Heller — Second Amendment Case Last Case to Be Announced from March Sitting’

In a massive blow to the Bush Administration, the Supreme Court has ruled 5-4 in favor of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the opinion below, Justice Kennedy delivers the opinion of a lifetime: holding faithfully to the Constitution in a time of prolonged crisis.
Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Rules in Favor of the Detainees in Massive Blow to Bush Administration’

Terrance Taylor of Tyler, Texas is a seventeen-year-old boy who did a stupid thing. In a prank, he called his rival high school and said that he was going to come over an open fire on the students. The adults then did an equally stupid thing: the sentenced him to eight years in prison for the prank rather than giving him probation. It is an example of prosecutors and judges have lost any sense of proportion or logic in sentencing.

Continue reading ‘Texas Justice: 17-Year-Old Boy Gets Eight Years in Prison for Phone Threat’

A Tampa case may present an ideal context to review the long-criticized pornography test and the role of community standards in the Internet age. Paul F. Little, known as “Max Hardcore,” is facing an obscenity prosecution for selling porn on the Internet. The Bush Administration could have chosen any state in the Union, but engineered an indictment in Tampa — an open case of forum shopping for the most conservative jury pool that it could find. The Supreme Court has never produced a coherent and consistent approach to obscenity and this case is the result of this long-standing judicial failure. Continue reading ‘James Madison Meets Max Hardcore: Florida Obscenity Case Could Force Review of Community Standards in Internet Age’

Judge Brinkema has issued a new order in the case of Dr. Ali Al-Timimi. The order discloses that the government has been granted a protective order over material currently under seal. However, I have been informed by the court security officer that I may review classified material next week.
Continue reading ‘Court Orders Access of Defense Counsel in Al-Timimi Case’

The FBI agent in charge of the campaign-finance probe of Southfield lawyer Geoffrey Fieger denied that he was abusive to possible witnesses as they have claimed. Jeffrey Rees said that he was merely trying to get them to tell the truth. There has been no action taken against Rees, even though some of these accusers appear quite credible and his alleged misconduct has undermined the federal case.
Continue reading ‘Agent Denies Abusive Tactics in Feiger Case’

In Karachi, citizens carried out their own justice after finding two men stealing from a bus. The beart them severely and then set them on fire. Previously, three robbers were burned alive. [Warning: the link below has graphic images]

Continue reading ‘Pakistanis Burn Robbers Alive in Growing Trend’

Below is part of the on-going coverage in the case of Dr. Ali Al-Timimi.

We do not know when to the conference planned by Judge Brinkema and the security officer on the ex parte communications. She indicated that she wanted the conference to occur soon.

Continue reading ‘Court Rules on Secrecy in Al-Timimi Case’

Due to the classified status of the case, I have been limited in what I can report about the progress in the case of Dr. Ali Al-Timimi. However, today’s hearing was public and thus some additional information can be disclosed.
Continue reading ‘Court Rules with Defense on Access to Classified Material in the Case of Dr. Ali Al-Timimi’

Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Greg Damm is the focus of a blistering condemnation by the trial and appellate courts of his alleged prosecutorial misconduct in a Las Vegas case. The case against five individuals, attorneys Daniel Chapman and Sean Flanagan, involved alleged securities trading violations. Damm is accused for failing to turn over 650 pages of critical evidence after telling the court that all evidence had been produced for the defense. Continue reading ‘Dammed if You Don’t: Ninth Circuit Dismisses Criminal Case Due to Flagrant Prosecutorial Abuse’

The Senate is congratulating itself on finding taking a stand on ethics. It admonished Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R., N.M.) yesterday for his “appearance of impropriety” in connection with the firing of one of the nine U.S. attorneys fired. Yet, it is hard to see what it takes under congressional rule to commit an actual act of impropriety. Perhaps if Domenici had actually paraded around with the head of David C. Iglesias . . . wait, that is an “appearance of insobriety” under Senate rules. Continue reading ‘Senate Finds that Domenici’s Call to U.S. Attorney was Only an “Appearance” of Impropriety’

The Bush Administration has long had difficulty in terrorism, assembling the worst record of losses of an modern Administration. Now, in the Liberty City case of six defendants accused of plotting to try to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, they are going to try a THIRD time to get a jury to believe them. This is not a matter of the law of terrorism but the law of averages. Despite the strikingly similar reaction of the prior two juries, the Justice Department just hopes that it can still find people who will not question the unconvincing case against these individuals. Continue reading ‘Playing the Law of Averages: Justice Department to Try Sears Tower Defendants a Third Time’

Human Right Watch has issued a detailed report of how Saudi Arabia keeps women in a state of “childhood,” dependent upon males for things ranging from medical care to driving. The report, “Perpetual Minors: Human Rights Abuses Stemming from Male Guardianship and Sex Segregation in Saudi Arabia,” is based on more than 100 interviews with Saudi women. Continue reading ‘Forever Children: Human Rights Watch Blasts Saudi Arabia on Treatment of Women’

Phillip Miles, of South Carolina, was sentenced by a Moscow court to more than three years in prison for smuggling hunting ammunition into Russia. He had brought a box of 20 rifle shells for a friend who had a Winchester rifle. Stupid to be sure, but three years? Continue reading ‘American Pastor Sentenced to Three Years in Russia for Smuggling Ammunition’

The so-called “black widows” Helen Golay, 77, and Olga Rutterschmidt, 75, were found guilty of five counts. Golay was found guilty of the first degree murder of Kenneth McDavid, 50, in 2005 and Paul Vados, 73, in 1999 as well as conspiracy to murder for financial gain counts in both killings. Rutterschmidt, 75, was convicted of conspiracy to murder McDavid for financial gain. The men were killed for insurance proceeds as discussed in the video below. Continue reading ‘“Black Widows” Convicted Murder of Homeless Men’

In yet another controversy over attorney-client privilege and confidentiality, two attorneys in Chicago have revealed that their former client killed a security guard in 1982 and that an innocent man, Alton Logan, has been imprisoned for almost three decades for a crime that he did not commit. Bar officials in North Carolina and Virginia have faced similar questions over the limits of confidentiality, here. Continue reading ‘Lawyers Reveal 26-Year-Old Secret: Innocent Man Convicted of Murder of Security Guard’

In North Carolina, the bar is faced with a difficult question over the limits of confidentiality in a case of Staples Hughes. Hughes revealed a confidential statement made by his late client, who allegedly exonerated his co-defendant, Lee Wayne Hunt in a double murder case. Continue reading ‘Lawyer Faces Charges After Revealing Confidential Statement of Late Client to Exonerate Inmate’

According to the New York Times, former attorney general Alberto Gonzales can’ find a job after been rebuffed by law firms who are not eager to add a name now synonymous with incompetence and blind partisanship - not to mention torture. Still, these would be some interesting “ding letters”: “Dear General Gonzales, our lawyers were very impressed with your interview and resume. However, every year our firms receives countless applications from former attorney generals . . . .” Continue reading ‘Firms Say No to Bush Yes Man: Alberto Gonzales Having Difficulty Finding Full-Time Job’

This afternoon, my client Dr. Sami Al-Arian was transferred from the custody of the United States Marshal Service to that of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. His sentence under the original plea agreement expired on April 6, 2008 and, under the original agreement, he should have been deported. Continue reading ‘Dr. Sami Al-Arian Transferred to ICE Custody’

This week, Michael Gableman celebrated a considerable victory: the first defeat of an incumbent judge in 40 years for the Wisconsin Supreme Court. His opponent Louis Butler was also the first African American on the Court. Yet, the $5 million race shows the steady trend toward high-priced campaigns to change the make-up of courts by legal and corporate interests. Continue reading ‘The $5 Million Judge: Wisconsin Race Sets Record in Money and Meanness’

There is a controversy brewing over at Wikipedia. Someone at the office of the Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence appears to have edited out an article about Major Alan Rogers, who died serving this country in Iraq. The Pentagon editor apparently objected to the recognition of the fact that Rogers was not only a hero, but gay. Continue reading ‘Pentagon Accused of Editing Out Wikipedia Reference to Solider’s Sexual Orientation’

Today, I testified in the House Judiciary Committee (Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security), on the new proposed changes to the rules governing federal restitution. They are quite extreme. Continue reading ‘Testimony on New Federal Restitution Law’

Leslie Hagan, it appears, was a bit too outstanding for the Justice Department. The attorney worked as a liaison between the Justice Department and the U.S. attorneys’ committee on Native American issues and received consistent “outstanding” marks on her evaluations. However, she is also a lesbian as well as a Republican. It was the first part that allegedly bothered people like Monica Goodling, the oft-ridiculed former Justice official involved in the firings of U.S. Attorneys. Continue reading ‘A Bit Too Outstanding: Inspector General Investigating Whether Justice Fired Successful Because She Is A Lesbian’

The White House finally released some of the torture memos to Congress — justifications of coercive methods by Professor John Yoo. What is most striking about the memo below is its rather low-grade effort to justify torture — citing a type of self-defense theory for why an isolated detainee might have died or been injured during rough interrogation. Continue reading ‘Torture Memo Released: Yoo Argues Self-Defense in Cases of Interrogation Deaths or Injuries’

With the various legal controversies involving Wal-Mart, one would think that its legal department would seek to avoid another lawsuit. Yet, Wal-Mart’s hard-nosed approach to legal disputes appears to be again getting the store into hot water — this time with the U.S. government. Wal-Mart reportedly refused to re-hire Sean Thornton, a former airman with the United States Air Force, after he returned from deployment, leading to a lawsuit by the Justice Department in Orlando Florida. Continue reading ‘Big Box, Small Heart: Wal-Mart Sued By U..S. Over Termination of Veteran’

In yet another loss for the Bush Administration in the case of accused Rep. William Jefferson, the United States Supreme Court today denied its appeal on the issue of the constitutionality of its raid of a congressional office. Continue reading ‘Supreme Court Denies Review in the Jefferson Case’

10-year-old Nebraska girl Jayci Yaeger died not long after she was given her last wish: to see her father Jason Yaeger who is serving time on a drug offense. There remain questions about why federal officials in Yankton, S.D. fought any extended furlough for so long and only relented after a national outcry over their position. Continue reading ‘Little Girl Dies After Getting Last Wish to See Prisoner-Father’

Today, the Supreme Court will hear the case of Indiana v. Edwards and explore the question of the limits as self-representation — the subject of the column below. Continue reading ‘A Fool and His Lawyer: Can You Be Competent to Stand Trial But Unfit to Represent Yourself?’