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.
Category: Justice
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”
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.
Continue reading “Justice Department to Drop Espionage Case Against AIPAC Lobbyists”
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.
There is an interesting exchange that has surfaced between a Stanford student and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who is a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford. The student confronted Rice about whether waterboarding is torture. She responded with a Nixonesque argument that, if the president ordered it, it cannot be a war crime. It sounds a lot like Nixon’s 1977 statement: “When the president does it, that means it is not illegal.” I discussed the Rice comment on this segment of Hardball.
Associate Justice Antonin Scalia publicly lashed out at Fordham Law Professor Professor Joel Reidenberg who having his students compile a 15-page dossier on his private life. For civil libertarians, Scalia’s objections to a lack of privacy is analogous to Rep. Jane Harman’s outrage over being intercepted as part of the NSA warrantless program that she helped approve.
Continue reading “Scalia Slams Fordham Law Professor For Privacy Invasion”
Civil libertarians were a bit disappointed again in President Barack Obama’s press conference on Wednesday. While he reaffirmed that he views waterboarding to be torture (a well-established legal fact), he repeatedly referred to what the Bush Administration did as a “technique” of interrogation and a “mistake.” I discussed the Obama press conference and the torture issues on this segment of Rachel Maddow. I will be discussing these issues again on tonight’s Hardball.
Sheik Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan, the brother of the Crown Prince of the United Arab Emirates, Prince Mohammed, has been caught torturing a man that he accused of cheating him in a grain deal. Issa is shown shooting at the man who is bound in the sand and, with the help of a police officer, beating the man and forcing him to eat sand. The torture occurred at the royal ranch and was over a $5000 disagreement — for one of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
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There is an interesting copy of George W. Bush’s speech to the nation where he gave the position of the United States on the prosecution of war crimes — before Americans were accused of war crimes. Back then, Bush gave a standard that showed that he and his Administration knew that there is no “good faith defense” in committing war crimes. He insisted “War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, “I was just following orders.”
Continue reading “George W. Bush: “War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, ‘I was just following orders.’””
On Face the Nation this morning, Sen. John McCain became the latest figure to publicly state that the Bush Administration violated the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture. It is not clear how many international and domestic figures will have to publicly acknowledge these crimes before Attorney General Eric Holder will appoint a special prosecutor. I discussed the torture issue last night on this segment of MSNBC Countdown.
Continue reading “McCain: Bush Administration Violated Geneva Conventions and Convention Against Torture”
In a true sign of the apocalypse, civil libertarians have something to agree on with Doug Feith (the former Bush Under Secretary of Defense for Policy) who is universally ridiculed for his role on some of the most disastrous policies of the Bush Administration. The Wall Street Journal ran an opinion editorial from Feith virtually daring the Obama Administration to investigate and prosecute any crimes related to the torture program. Obviously, Feith is widely viewed as a bit of a clown, but it is time for Holder to stop trying to find a way out and call the bluff of Cheney, Feith and others. He needs to appoint a special prosecutor to allow a neutral prosecutor to determine if crimes were committed.
Continue reading “Feith Calls for Prosecution of Any Crimes But Will Holder Answer?”
Former Klan leader David Duke has been detained by police in Prague on suspicion of denying the Holocaust. Despite the universal loathing of Duke and other Holocaust deniers, the arrest hits a difficult issue for civil libertarians. Criminalizing a viewpoint is a fundamental denial of free speech and allows prosecution for unpopular thoughts or views.
Continue reading “Former Klan Leader David Duke Arrested in Czech Republic for Holocaust Denial”
In light of the recent defenses made recently on behalf of Judge Jay Bybee, John Yoo, and Steven Bradbury, this picture appears to capture their sudden emergence into the public debate.
Continue reading “Bush Officials Surface To Answer Torture Claims”
Recently, I wrote a column on how the West has used hate crime laws to create a Western version of blasphemy prosecutions in the Middle East. Finland has now added to the list of countries charging people with blasphemy. Helsinki city councilman, Jussi Halla-aho was charged with blasphemy and incitement of an ethnic-group for publishing on his blog that Islam’s prophet was a pedophile. Mohammad is often accused of being a pedophile due to his marriage to 6-year-old Aisha, which was consummated when she was 9.
Continue reading “Finland Prosecutes Politician for Blasphemy in Calling Mohammad a Pedophile”