Torture

Torture doesn’t work. It might elicit information, but by its nature, that information is suspect. Meanwhile, our humanity and values have been compromised for questionable, if any, gain.

Famed Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng has come to America to study law…

* First the Jones verdict, then the Fourth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Jose Padilla’s torture lawsuit. It’s enough to make ACLUers develop bipolar disorder. [Washington Post] * Release the Kagan! The Supreme Court rejected Freedom Watch’s motion for time to argue that Justice Elena Kagan should recuse herself from the Obamacare case. [CNN] * […]

Imagine what would have happened if the Obama administration had been running things immediately following 9/11. After their “arrest,” we would have read [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] and [Abu Faraj al-Libi] their Miranda rights, provided them legal counsel, sent them to the U.S. for detention, and granted them all the rights provided a U.S. citizen in […]

We took a muscular view of presidential authority. We were offering a bottom line to a client who wanted to know what he could do and what he couldn’t do. I wasn’t running a debating society, and I wasn’t running a law school. — Ninth Circuit Judge Jay S. Bybee, testifying to the House Judiciary […]

If you happen to be on the frigid East Coast today, currently experiencing the coldest temperatures of the season, grab yourself a cup of cocoa and a copy of the Sunday New York Times. The NYT often has articles of interest to a legal audience, but this weekend’s edition has an especially high number of […]

Tired of talking about terrorism, torture, and related topics? You might not be alone. At a Federalist Society discussion we attended on Tuesday night, entitled Do We Have the Legal Tools to Prevent Terrorist Attacks?, even some of the panelists wondered why these subjects still generate so much discussion, over seven years after the 9/11 […]

* An MSM shout-out for ATL’s very own Hope Winters. [CNN] * Mickey Rourke’s beloved chihuahua, Loki, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this past Monday. Here’s to hoping that Mickey’s covered. [Wall Street Journal (subscription)] * The Tax Workshop for Strippers & Sex Workers will be “speci​fical​ly helpful to those​ who work as indep​enden​t contr​actor​s,​ […]

* House Democrats oppose Senate spy bill’s telecom immunity. [Washington Post] * Justice Scalia approves of “so-called torture” under some circumstances. [MSNBC] * Just a few months later, Senate committee gets around to admonishing Sen. Craig. [CNN] * Clemens and McNamee go head to head before Congress. [ESPN] * City’s scantily clad cowboy sues candy-coated […]

Not everyone likes Attorney General Michael Mukasey. At Boston College Law School, students are protesting Dean John Garvey’s decision to invite Attorney General Mukasey to deliver the school’s 2008 Commencement address. See here (Facebook group: “Waterboarding IS Torture”), here, and here. Why are liberals so unhappy about Mukasey? We’d expect the AG to receive a […]

* “T.Owes.” [ESPN] * Rebates to $500? [CNN] * AG Mukasey won’t label waterboarding. [MSNBC] * Sen. McCain wins Florida, Rudy to bow out. [New York Times; Washington Post] * Federal inquiry into stolen artifacts expands. [New York Times] * Margaret Truman, only child of President Truman and author of mysteries set at the Supreme […]

Time for an update on everyone’s favorite law student cum beauty queen cum accused kidnapper, Kumari Fulbright. If you’re not familiar with her story, click here, and read through the ATL archives. First, from an observant reader, some sad news for those of us who were her Facebook friends: It looks like Kumari finally realized […]

As we mentioned in our earlier post about Kumari Fulbright, the former beauty queen and current law student indicted on charges of kidnapping her ex-boyfriend, we poked her today on Facebook. She has not yet returned our poke. But, surprisingly enough, she did add us as a friend. (We also asked her, via Facebook message, […]

What is it about law students cum models who like to pose, in bikinis, with firearms?

Last month, Judge John B. Hagler, a state court judge in Tennessee, stepped down from the bench. Here’s why, from the AP: A Tennessee judge resigned last month after making a recording of fantasies so lurid that when the tape fell into the hands of the police and FBI, they thought they were listening to […]

* So, it’s gonna be illegal now, which means the CIA can’t do it, right? [Washington Post via How Appealing] * New Jersey gets rid of the death penalty; now if they could just tackle that disgusting odor. [BBC] * Prosecutors go 0-1-6 in Sears Tower trial. [CNN] * Hey, look everybody! International law! They’ve […]

Last Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral argument in Arar v. Ashcroft, a high-profile lawsuit arising out of the U.S. government’s rendition of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen, to Syria. We interviewed DLA Piper partner Joshua Sohn (at right), co-counsel to Mr. Arar along with the Center for Constitutional […]

One of our favorite Supreme Court reporters, the fabulous Jan Crawford Greenburg, gave a speech at Harvard Law School today. But she didn’t tarry in Cambridge: Not sure what is going on, but JCG just finished giving a speech at HLS and said that: a) She was turning around to go back to Washington immediately […]

* The war on punitive damages continues. [USA Today via How Appealing] * Suspect from Burning Man burning to burn something else. [Reno Gazette-Journal] * Senators want clarification from Mukasey on waterboarding. [Jurist] * Lerach pleads guilty. [Los Angeles Times] * Do we have a de facto moratorium on executions pending this term’s SCOTUS lethal […]

* Does a federal district court have to recruit pro bono counsel for a pro se litigant? [Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals via How Appealing] * DOJ cool with torture tough interrogation techniques. [New York Times] * Bush doesn’t care about poor kids. [AP via Athens Banner-Herald] * The ACLU doesn’t want to let Bush […]