* Who needs lawyers? [WSJ Law Blog]
* Take the deal, Vick. [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
* Buyer’s remorse on the surveillance law? [New York Times]
* I want a new drug website. [BBC]
* Being the creepiest guy on earth is apparently not a crime. [CNN]
War on Terror
- Crime, Drugs, Eavesdropping / Wiretapping, Football, Jonathan Lee Riches, Michael Vick, Morning Docket, Perverts, Pro Se Litigants, Sports, War on Terror
Morning Docket: 08.20.07
By Billy Merck
Jose Padilla: committed al-Qaida terrorist, or harmless (and not very good) student of Arabic?
After a three month trial, the jury deliberated for a day and a half. Now they’ve reached a verdict.
We’ll bring you the details as soon as we have them. A day and a half isn’t very long given the length of the trial. Is that a bad sign for the prosecution or the defense?
Update: A bad sign for the defense: Jose Padilla has been convicted of federal terrorism support charges. Next time around, Jose, don’t fill out a written application to join the terrorists.
Verdict Reached in Padilla Terror Case [Associated Press]
Jury reaches verdict in Padilla terror trial [CNN]
Some fashion advice for Arab-Americans traveling by plane: leave the Arabic-slogan t-shirts at home.
Unless you want to become the plaintiff in an ACLU lawsuit. Consider this recently filed case:
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal civil rights lawsuit charging that a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) official and JetBlue Airways illegally discriminated against an American resident based solely on the Arabic message on his t-shirt and his ethnicity.
JetBlue and the TSA official, identified as “Inspector Harris,” would not let Raed Jarrar board his flight at John F. Kennedy Airport until he agreed to cover his t-shirt, which read “We Will Not Be Silent” in English and Arabic script.
According to the complaint, Harris told Jarrar that it is impermissible to wear an Arabic shirt to an airport and equated it to a “person wearing a t-shirt at a bank stating, ‘I am a robber.’”
Oy. Gotta love those enlightened TSA officials. Should Jarrar have worn a burqa instead?
Okay, seriously — if Raed Jarrar were a terrorist intent on wreaking havoc, would he really have worn such a t-shirt on to an airplane? Isn’t that just a recipe for extra-special scrutiny from the federal air marshal?
(On the other hand, perhaps one could argue, under a “reverse psychology” rubric, that a terrorist might don such a t-shirt because everyone would think: “Only the most dumb-ass terrorist would call attention to himself with his outfit!”)
ACLU Sues TSA Official, JetBlue for Discriminating Against Passenger Wearing Arabic T-Shirt [American Civil Liberties Union]
“We Will Not Be Silent” [ACLU (lawsuit homepage)]
The Airline Screening Playset: Hours of Fun! [Concurring Opinions]
After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out Attack [The Onion]
Although located uncomfortably close to the site of yesterday’s steam pipe explosion, Davis Polk & Wardwell has some of the nicest offices around. When we were in law school, Davis was known as “Land of the Beautiful People.” They had the most gorgeous offices, and the best-looking associates (and summer associates).
DPW also seems to have great — or at least distinctive and unique — perks. First we heard about their marriage bonus. And now, in the wake of yesterday’s calamity, we get this news:
I am an associate at Davis Polk, a few blocks from the explosion in midtown [yesterday] afternoon. We were evacuated and I took the firm-provided emergency kit as I left. No real news from the evacuation but here is something that came up as I was walking home.
A friend from White and Case was having a drink at a nearby bar and I stopped on my way home. She saw my emergency kit and asked what it was. I said “you know the emergency kit that all the firms give you on your first day.” Well, needless to say she was pissed that White and Case has no such kit!
I think this would be another fun “perks” thread. So kicking it off, the Davis Polk kit has a flashlight, glow stick, emergency blanket, battery powered radio. But the real kicker is that we have this hood that you can wear in a smoke-filled room and still breathe for about a half hour.
So if a “dirty bomb” goes off in New York City someday (God forbid), bet on the Davis Polksters to emerge alive. Along with a few Milberg Weiss partners cockroaches.
Update: From our original DPW source:
“By the way, forgot to mention that besides the f’ing awesome smoke hood, the safety kit also has potassium iodide tablets to prevent radiation poisoning.”
“Suck it Wachtell!”
From the NYT Reporter’s Notebook on the Jose Padilla trial (previously linked to here):
Prosecutors have tried to prove Mr. Padilla’s guilt with a training camp application they say he filled out and wiretapped phone conversations in which he took part or was discussed. But they have no witnesses who saw Mr. Padilla fill out the form, and the phone recordings make him sound more troubled than malign. They suggest Mr. Padilla, a former gang member in Chicago and fast-food worker in South Florida, struggled to fit in and learn Arabic in Egypt, where he moved in 1998.
“Basically, he is a slow learner,” one of Mr. Padilla’s associates told another in 1999, five months after he arrived in Cairo. “Basically, he doesn’t want to speak. I mean, the man doesn’t … doesn’t move.”
There’s a difference between incompetence and complacency. Nevertheless, Padilla’s inefficacy puts us in mind of this great Onion article.
Mysteries, Legal and Sartorial, at Padilla Trial [New York Times]
After 5 Years In U.S., Terrorist Cell Too Complacent To Carry Out Attack [The Onion]
- Alberto Gonzales, Brett Gerry, Department of Justice, Drugs, John Demers, Rachel Brand, War on Terror
An Explanation for Alberto Gonzales’s Troubles as AG
By David LatCan you blame Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for not being more in the loop on the U.S. Attorney firings? He’s been holding down not one but TWO demanding jobs. Check out the DOJ homepage (unchanged as of this morning, despite this Friday afternoon post by Wonkette):
If Alberto Gonzales can survive the revelation that “he” is actually a female, drug-trafficking terrorist — who may possibly be related to Wilmer Valderrama — then clearly he’s untouchable.
Meanwhile, in other Justice Department news (expect announcements later today or tomorrow):
The stylish pumps of the fabulous Assistant Attorney General Rachel Brand, whose last day as head of the Office of Legal Policy is today, will be filled on an acting basis by another former Kennedy clerk, Brett Gerry (OT 2000).
Congratulations to Brett Gerry on his new post. Alberto Gonzales needs all the help he can get these days.
Why Is This Man Smiling? [Wonkette]
High Ranking Member of Colombian FARC Narco-Terrorist Organization Sentenced on U.S. Drug Charges [U.S. Department of Justice]
Earlier: Why Did the Prom Queen Leave the Party?
Congratulations to Ken Wainstein (profiling Wainstein’s front office staff at NSD)
A summary of the action, courtesy of Howard Bashman (aka “Ho Bash,” as one commenter dubbed him):
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit holds that the American Civil Liberties Union and its co-plaintiffs lack standing to challenge the National Security Administration’s interception without warrants of certain telephone and email communications…
Circuit Judge Alice M. Batchelder issued the lead opinion, and Circuit Judge Julia Smith Gibbons issued an opinion concurring in the judgment. Judge Gibbons’s opinion begins, “The disposition of all of the plaintiffs’ claims depends upon the single fact that the plaintiffs have failed to provide evidence that they are personally subject to the TSP. Without this evidence, on a motion for summary judgment, the plaintiffs cannot establish standing for any of their claims, constitutional or statutory….”
And Circuit Judge Ronald Lee Gilman dissented. He would hold that the plaintiffs possess standing and that “the [Terrorist Surveillance Program] as originally implemented violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978.”
Is this ruling a surprise? Not so much. First, most legal analysts were deeply disappointed by the handiwork of Judge Anna Diggs Taylor (E.D. Mich.), the district judge in this case.
Second, here’s a telling detail from the Sixth Circuit website:
Does the Sixth Circuit website always feature a patriotic graphic of the United States filled with a flag pattern? Or is this just a special Fourth of July thing they haven’t gotten around to changing back yet?
ACLU v. NSA [U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (PDF) via How Appealing]
Many Experts Fault Reasoning Of Judge in Surveillance Ruling [New York Times]
After yesterday, we thought they were all done for the Term. We thought wrong.
Some notable news from the Supreme Court today. Lyle Denniston of the invaluable SCOTUSblog reports:
In a startling turn of events in the legal combat over the war on terrorism, the Supreme Court on Friday agreed to reconsider the appeals in the Guantanamo Bay detainee cases. It vacated its April 2 order denying review of the two packets of cases. The Court then granted review, consolidated the cases, and said they would be heard in a one-hour argument in the new Term starting Oct. 1.
Such a switch by the Court — from denial to rehearing and new argument and decision — may not have occurred since 1947, in Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, legal sources said Friday.
So they’ve changed their mind about a cert grant for the first time in 60 years. What a neat little factoid!
But hey, being a Supreme Court justice means being able to change your mind. And never having to say you’re sorry.
(For more on the likely import of this change of heart, see Orin Kerr.)
Court switches, will hear detainee cases [SCOTUSblog]
Supreme Court Agrees to Take Guantanamo Bay Cases [Volokh Conspiracy]
* Panda Express, Kelly and Ping’s and hall of shamer Eggrolls Etc are fakes alright, but they’re not illegal. Is widespread consumption of Lean Cuisine a harbinger of another Cultural Revolution? [Disgrasian]
* Martha is peeved that her staff didn’t do a background check on her driver. Expect a guest of middle-eastern descent on her next show, discussing the necessity of luxury Egyptian cotton sheets and teaching TV viewers how to make basbousa. [Huffington Post]
* We’ve known this for some time, but it’s worth repeating: that Chiquita Banana you eat before an intramural game is quite possibly the world’s most imperfect food. [Boston Herald]
* Venn Diagrams rule. Speaking of tennis, don’t forget to catch the finals of the Roland Garros this weekend. And phenomenal Ana (also infinitely hotter than her poufy-faced predecessor of sorts) has her own blog! [FN1] [Indexed via Quiz Law]
[FN1] And I’m not condoning the ridiculous levels of exploitation women’s tennis has seen in the past decade…but she is super-hot, not just tennis-player hot! Yeah, I’m jealous.
Today’s Judge of the Day hails from the other side of the pond. From Reuters:
A British judge admitted on Wednesday he was struggling to cope with basic terms like “Web site” in the trial of three men accused of inciting terrorism via the Internet.
Judge Peter Openshaw broke into the questioning of a witness about a Web forum used by alleged Islamist radicals.
“The trouble is I don’t understand the language. I don’t really understand what a Web site is,” he told a London court during the trial of three men charged under anti-terrorism laws.
These internets can be so confusing…
So is this Judge Openshaw positively ancient? Actually, no:
Prosecutor Mark Ellison briefly set aside his questioning to explain the terms “Web site” and “forum.” An exchange followed in which the 59-year-old judge acknowledged: “I haven’t quite grasped the concepts.”
Jeez, Judge Openshaw — get with the program. Even Justice John Paul Stevens uses email. And he’s getting close to 90!
Judge to prosecutor: So what’s a Web site? [Reuters via MSNBC]
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