Earlier this year, controversial blonde pundit Ann Coulter joked about putting rat poison in Justice John Paul Stevens's creme brulee.

Did Coulter give someone an idea? Check out this story, from the Star-Telegram of Forth Worth:

When federal appellate Judge Danny Boggs said at a Friday legal conference at Las Colinas that physical assaults aimed at judges have come mainly from "the deranged," Justice Sandra Day O'Connor underscored the safety concerns.

"Every member of the Supreme Court received a wonderful package of home-baked cookies, and I don't know why, the staff decided to analyze them," she recounted. "Each one contained enough poison to kill the entire membership of the court."

Sounds pretty serious, right?

But we must call out Justice O'Connor for exaggerating the seriousness of the threat. It seems the ol' cowgirl is playing fast and loose with the record. As reported by SCOTUS press corps diva Linda Greenhouse:

The danger posed by the packages was immediately apparent. Each contained a typewritten letter stating either, “I am going to kill you,” or, “We are going to kill you,” and adding, “This is poisoned.”

Supreme Court justices get accused of many things. But illiteracy is not usually among them.

Moreover, Justice O'Connor's casual statement of "I don't know why, the staff decided to analyze them" -- implying the deadly treats came thisclose to reaching supreme judicial lips -- is misleading. Again, per the Queen Bee:

All mail received at the Supreme Court is screened, and the tainted packages never reached the justices, said Kathleen Arberg, the court’s public information officer.

So it's not that easy to poison a Supreme Court justice. Furthermore, even if the poisoned food somehow makes it past the initial screening, to reach a justice's chambers, success is still not guaranteed. Why? In addition to their other duties, some Supreme Court clerks serve as food tasters for their bosses.

Finally, we fail to see how Justice O'Connor's tale of the poisoned baked goods refutes Judge Boggs's point that most threats against judges comes from "the deranged." Clearly Barbara Joan March, who sent the poisoned packages to the Supreme Court -- accompanied by notes that helpfully disclosed their toxic nature -- is not a right-thinking person. At the very least, she's not the most sane, nor the most intelligent, resident of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Sitting Ducks on the Bench [Star-Telegram (Fort Worth)]
Justice Recalls Treats Laced With Poison [New York Times]
Ann Coulter to Justice Stevens: Drop Dead -- Here, Let Me Help [Wonkette]

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* "U.S. privacy protections rank among the worst in the democratic world, a London-based privacy organization said Wednesday." [MSNBC]

* Ann Coulter is accused of voter fraud, in violation of both Florida law and the Code of Irony. [CNN]

Fantasy football tips, after the jump.

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* National security adviser Stephen Hadley indicates that the White House is trying to reach a compromise with Republican Senators over what the CIA can and cannot do when interrogating terror suspects. [New York Times]

* A medical examiner hired by successful Supreme Court litigant Anna Nicole Smith performed a second autopsy on Smith's 20-year-old son over the weekend. The cause of death has not yet been determined, but heart disease, stroke, or a "congenital anomaly" have been ruled out. [Associated Press]

* Options backdating defendant William Sorin was outside general counsel at Comverse Technology -- a rather unusual arrangement. Sorin was awarded millions of dollars worth of stock options, even though he wasn't even a salaried employee of the company. [Corporate Counsel]

* A happy 67th birthday to Justice David H. Souter. And some advice: Don't eat that cupcake sent over by Ann Coulter, even if she did stick a cute little candle in it. [How Appealing]