While Judge Jay Bybee has declined to speak before the Senate Judiciary Committee to explain his role in the Bush torture program, he is reportedly reaching out to Nevada delegation members to find an alternative forum “to tell his side of the story.” I discussed the story on this segment of Rachel Maddow’s show.
Continue reading “Bybee Reportedly Seeking Forum to Explain His Role in the Torture Memos”
Category: Constitutional Law
Maine today legalized same-sex marriage — joining D.C. this week in the historic act.
The students of the National High School Mock Trial are getting some real legal exposure this year with a claim of religious discrimination filed against the organization on behalf of the Maimonides School, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Brookline, Massachusetts. The organization has refused to change the calendar to allow the Orthodox students to compete on a day other than a Saturday.
Continue reading “Not-So-Moot Court: Jewish Students Challenge Schedule of National High School Mock Trial”
The D.C. Council passed a same-sex marriage law unanimously this week — sort of. Ex-felon and current Councilman Marion Barry voted for the legislation only to immediately object that he did not want to vote for same-sex marriage and insisted on a new vote. It passed 12-1.
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The Washington Post reports that Bush officials are working the halls and telephones of the Justice Department with the formal end of the internal investigation into former Justice officials involved in the Bush torture program, including Ninth Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee, Berkeley professor John C. Yoo and Steven G. Bradbury. They are reportedly working over former colleagues to soften the language and recommendations of the department. I will be discussing disucssed this and other related stories on this segment of MSNBC Countdown.
Talk show host Michael Savage (aka Michael Weiner) has been banned from entry into England in the latest example of England’s rapid abandonment of free speech principles.
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Leading Pakistani cleric chief Sufi Muhammad of Tehreek-e- Nifaz-e- Shariat-e- Muhammadi has declared democracy, communism, socialism, and fascism to be un-Islamic. Hmmm, that leaves what? Of yes, Islamic rule. He has also reaffirmed that it is unIslamic to be photographed.
The ABA Journal has obtained the findings of Judge Greg Brewer, who is recommending that the case of Charles Dean Hood be reviewed in light of an intimate relationship between former Collin County District Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Thomas S. O’Connell Jr. Notably, O’Connell previously denied such a relationship.
In one of the most perverse moments yet in the torture debate, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took time to explain the need for torture to a fourth grader who was a bit curious why his country tortured people. The question of Misha was considerably more reassuring than Rice’s answers.
Continue reading “Torture Tots: Condoleezza Rice Teaches Torture’s Necessity To Fourth Graders”
Ayman Udas was an award-winning signer and song writer in Pakistan, who was looking forward to a soaring career. Those hopes ended when she was allegedly shot to death by her brothers, who were outraged by her appearance on television a week earlier in the religiously conservative city of Peshawar.
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Today, William B. Moffitt will be buried in Washington, D.C.. Bill was a friend and one of the greatest trial attorneys of his generation. He was only 60. He will be deeply missed.
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The Justice Department is moving to dismiss the case against Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman for espionage. The two men are former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC. Recently, Rep. Jane Harman was swept into a scandal when it was revealed that she was intercepted by the NSA alleging bargaining to help get the case dismissed in exchange for AIPAC’s help in securing the Chair position on the House Intelligence Committee.
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Meet the America’s Torture Doctors: Bruce Jessen and Jim Mitchell. The names of the two psychologists have been released with a report that they played a critical role in establishing the torture program by attesting to its safety. I will be addressing the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Toronto in August on the involvement of doctors in these war crimes.
The Pew Forum has released an interesting poll that the more religious Americans, the more likely they are to support the use of torture against terrorism suspects.
Associate Justice David Souter, 69, has announced that he will retire from the Court after 18 years. The announcement comes as a complete surprise because, at 69, Souter is one of the younger members of the Court and was not expected to retire before John Paul Stevens or Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He is twenty years younger than Stevens, who appears intent on remaining on the Court at least for the rest of this term.
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