28 March 2012

March 28, 2012   Today's Stories

Politico: Roberts Court on Trial With Polarizing Health Care Case ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Politico says the Supreme Court of Justice John Roberts is on public trial as it wades into another election-year political maelstrom with its consideration of President Obama's health care law. If the Affordable Care Act goes down - especially if it suffers the same schismatic 5-to-4 blow sustained by the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law in the Citizens United case - critics will accuse the Roberts Court of rigging the game and covering their power play with constitutional doublespeak. The critics aren't even waiting for the third and final day of arguments before drawing their conclusions. Roberts' grilling of administration officials Tuesday-and his willingness to take up polarizing immigration and affirmative action cases in an election year--has already invited comparisons to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist, whose court decided the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush. If the court again splits along a traditional conservative-liberal fault line, the health care debate will further erode the ideal of the court as an impartial arbiter and cast doubt on Roberts's own idyllic description of his role as judicial "umpire" laid out during his 2005 confirmation hearings. "John Roberts is a terrific representative of the contemporary Republican Party, a terrific representative of the Bush administration and living proof that elections really do have consequences," said New Yorker legal writer Jeffrey Toobin, who sat through Tuesday's deliberations - and judged them "a train wreck" for supporters of the law. Politico

Acquittal of Michigan Militia Members Seen as Blow to Government ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A federal judge in Detroit acquitted seven members of the Hutaree militia Tuesday of the most serious charges following six weeks of testimony in a high-profile terror case, reports the Detroit News. U.S. District Judge Victoria Roberts granted a defense motion to acquit the militia members on seven charges, including seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. She ordered the trial to continue against Hutaree leader David Stone Sr. and his son, Joshua Stone, on weapons-related charges. The judge said the government's case was built largely on circumstantial evidence. "While this evidence could certainly lead to a rational fact-finder to conclude that 'something fishy' was going on, it does not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that defendants reached a concrete agreement to forcibly oppose the United States government," Roberts wrote. Peter Henning, a former prosecutor and current law professor at Wayne State University, called the case "all talk and no action." "This is a blow to the government," he said. "They put a lot of resources into this case. It demonstrates how difficult it is to prove conspiracy cases that have not advanced very far." Detroit News

NYC's Police Complaint Board Gets New Powers to Prosecute Officers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ New York's Civilian Complaint Review Board has been given new powers to prosecute police officers for misconduct, giving "teeth and transparency" to the process, reports the New York Times. The wide new powers for CCRB lawyers were part of an agreement city officials reached on Tuesday. The changes follow a period in which the Police Department has withstood an onslaught of corruption cases and increased scrutiny on several fronts, including its surveillance and stop-and-frisk practices, the integrity of its crime data and its use of force in policing Occupy Wall Street protests. The changes are intended to shine light on a police disciplinary process that critics have long said is murky and secretive. The agreement means that board lawyers, instead of police agency employees, will act as prosecutors in cases in which board members have substantiated wrongdoing by officers and have recommended that the most serious kinds of internal, or administrative, discipline be handed out. From 2007 through 2011, the board substantiated an average of 200 cases annually that it referred to the police so officers could be put on trial by departmental lawyers before an administrative judge who also was a Police Department employee. New York Times

GOP Legislators Find Diminished Support for Anti-Immigration Measures ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Anti-immigration proposals have lost momentum in state legislatures, reports USA Today. Republican legislators are struggling to find support for laws that would give local police more powers to crack down on illegal immigrants. Arizona passed its landmark illegal immigration bill in 2010, and Utah, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Indiana passed similar laws last year. But portions of all those laws have been blocked by federal courts and will face costly legal challenges, which could ultimately be decided when the Supreme Court reviews Arizona's law next month. Republican lawmakers say the threat of those lawsuits is one reason legislative leaders have put the brakes on immigration bills, or abandoned them altogether, as they wait to see how this election year plays out. "I think the pendulum has stopped a little closer.(). to the middle this year," said Suman Raghunathan, policy director of the Progressive States Network, which opposes state immigration enforcement laws. USA Today

Miami Herald Says Sanford Police Wanted to Charge FL Teen's Shooter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Despite public claims that there was not probable cause to make a criminal case in the Trayvon Martin killing, early in the investigation the Sanford, Fla., Police Department requested an arrest warrant from the Seminole County State Attorney's office, the special prosecutor in the case told the Miami Herald. A Sanford police incident report shows the case was categorized as "homicide/negligent manslaughter." The state attorney's office held off pending further review. The Miami Gardens high school junior was killed Feb. 26 by George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. The 28-year-old insurance underwriter and college student was never charged, triggering a nationwide crusade on the dead teen's behalf. Asked to confirm that the police recommended a manslaughter charge, special prosecutor Angela Corey said: "I don't know about that, but as far as the process I can tell you that the police went to the state attorney with a capias request, meaning: 'We're through with our investigation and here it is for you.' The state attorney impaneled a grand jury, but before anything else could be done, the governor stepped in and asked us to pick it up in mid-stream." Miami Herald

ACLU Decries Federal Spying on California Muslims from 2004 to '08 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Los Angeles Times reports that federal agents routinely profiled Muslims in Northern California for at least four years, using community outreach efforts as a guise for compiling intelligence on local mosques, according to documents released by the ACLU. From 2004 to 2008, FBI agents from San Francisco regularly attended meetings and services, particularly in the Silicon Valley area, "collected and illegally stored intelligence" about Muslims beliefs and practices and shared the information with other government agencies, the ACLU said. The ACLU, the Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2010 and a lawsuit in 2011 after the groups received repeated complaints from the Muslim community about intrusive FBI activity, ACLU attorney Julia Harumi Mass said. "The FBI's targeting of Muslim Americans for intelligence gathering was not connected to any evidence of criminality, but instead targeted an entire group based on religion," Mass said. The pattern of surveillance shown in the documents "is an affront to religious liberty and equal protection of the law." In a brief written statement, FBI Assistant Director Michael Kortan defended the agents' activities, but said that the agency has adjusted its community outreach efforts. Los Angeles Times

Scolding FDA, Judge Blocks Import of Sodium Thiopental for Executions ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ U.S. District Judge Richard Leon on Tuesday blocked the importation of a drug used in executions because the Food and Drug Administration ignored the law in allowing it into the U.S., reports the Associated Press. Leon sided with lawyers for death-row inmates in Tennessee, Arizona and California who want to keep out sodium thiopental, because it is an unapproved drug manufactured overseas. The Obama administration argued it had discretion to allow unapproved drugs into the U.S. Leon said the FDA's actions were "contrary to law, arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of discretion." He added, "Put simply, this appears to be nothing more than the FDA, once again, stubbornly clinging to every last ounce of its discretionary authority!" Sodium thiopental is an anesthetic used to put inmates to sleep before other lethal drugs are administered. The drug's U.S. manufacturer announced last year that it would no longer produce it, which forced corrections officials to delay many executions. Many of the nation's 34 death penalty states switched to an alternative drug, pentobarbital. Associated Press

Some Minnesotans Expunge Speeding Tickets by Opening Wallet Wider ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A growing percentage of drivers busted for speeding in Minnesota are finding ways to keep those violations off their driving records, often by paying extra, reports the Minneapolis Star Tribune. They are taking advantage of little-known court deals in which they pay a sometimes-hefty fee and keep their records clean as long as they don't get caught disobeying traffic laws too quickly again. In some cities, drivers can end up paying more than double the price of the ticket. "It's a loophole," said Jeff Hochstein, a 43-year-old self-described habitual speeder, who said he has sought and received the deal several times throughout his driving career in an attempt to keep his insurance rates lower. "There's ways to buy your way out of it." Last year, nearly 16,200 speeders kept a ticket off their driving records, court data show. That's 8 percent of all speeding tickets, up from 6 percent in 2004. Besides added revenue, the deals help keep court calendars from getting clogged with traffic cases, some prosecutors say. But the deals, allowed in some cities but not others, raise questions of fairness and governmental policy. "To me, that's bribery," said Sharon Gehrman-Driscoll, director of Minnesotans for Safe Driving. Minneapolis Star Tribune

Tampa Bay Times Debunks Claim of 'Stand Your Ground' Crime Drop ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Tampa Bay Times is debunking a claim by an author of Florida's "stand your ground" legislation that the law is responsible for a "dramatic" drop in violent crime. Rep. Dennis Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, defended the law in an interview last week with MSNBC's Tamron Hall. Hall asked Baxley about crime statistics that show justifiable homicides are up in Florida, but Baxley said that's one statistic. "What we've learned is, if we empower people to stop bad things from happening, they will," Baxley said. "And in fact, that statistic is coupled with another statistic. That is the fact that we've had a dramatic drop in violent crime since this law has been in effect." The Times looked into crime statistics and news reports. It said, "We found that violent crime has dropped significantly in Florida since 2005. (The law went into effect Oct. 1, 2005.) We calculated the drop in violent crime rates, to account for population growth. In 2006 and 2007, violent crime rates were up just slightly up compared with 2005. In 2008, the violent crime rate began declining. By 2011, the violent crime rate had dropped 14 percent since 2005. But that's not the whole story. We also looked at crime rates for the five years before the 'stand your ground' law started, and we found violent crime was declining during those years as well. Between 2000 and 2005, violent crime dropped 12 percent." Tampa Bay Times

At DC Panel, Dems Press for Probe of Guns, 'Stand Your Ground' Laws ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Congress should investigate gun laws, the lack of regulations on local neighborhood watch groups and the social status of black men and boys, a group of House Democrats said Tuesday at a forum spurred by the shooting last month of Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, reports USA Today. Martin's parents attended the Capitol Hill panel, which also debated racial profiling, hate crimes and "Stand Your Ground" self-defense laws. The panel was convened by Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. George Zimmerman, 28, the neighborhood watch volunteer who shot Martin, has not been charged with a crime. The case underscored the lack of clear standards on how to investigate incidents involving claims of self-defense, said Rep. Corrine Brown, a Florida Democrat who represents Sanford, where the shooting occurred. Brown said of the controversy, "I don't know whether it's incompetent, it's a coverup or if it's all of the above." Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., said, "Trayvon Martin was murdered in Sanford, Fla. No arrests have been made, and, in my opinion, an arrest should be made, and I will not rest until an arrest is made." USA Today

'A Simple Firearm,' Expert Says of Kel-Tec Pistol That Killed FL Teen ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Time magazine profiles the gun used to kill Florida teenager Trayvon Martin, which is being held in evidence by police. It is a black Kel-Tec PF-9 9mm semi-automatic pistol. George Zimmerman fired a single fatal shot from the gun that struck Martin in the cchest. Police arriving at the scene of the shooting found it in Zimmerman's waistband holster. It weighs about 12 oz. unloaded, has a five-pound trigger pull and has an automatic hammer block safety, which prevents it from firing when dropped. It is also "double-action only," which means the trigger must be pulled fully in order to fire. The weapon, manufactured by Cocoa, Fla.-based Kel-Tec CNC, is a well-known device and not uncommon for police and private ownership, according to Tom Gresham, host of Gun Talk, a Sirius XM radio show. "The particular model is a popular one for concealed carry," he says. "It's a simple firearm, there is nothing unusual about it. This would be a gun any police officer would carry for personal protection." Time

MO Proposal Would Trim Thousands From State's Vast Sex Registry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Missouri House gave initial approval to legislation that could drastically cut back the state's sex offender registry rolls, reports the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The proposal faces further votes before it becomes law, but it received overwhelmingly bi-partisan support. The legislation would eliminate mandatory sex offender registry for some crimes including promoting obscenity, and it would create a way for sex offenders to come off the list early based on the severity of offenses. Representatives say the bill is an attempt to trim back what they see as the state's far-reaching sex offender registry laws. Currently, Missouri has more than 12,000 people on its sex offender registry. Crimes range from extreme rape cases to consensual sex with minors. The new law could cut as many as 5,000 people in its first year and 1,000 people each year after, according to a fiscal study. St. Louis Post-Dispatch