Fox News informs us that the FBI can activate the microphone in your cell phone and listen to your conversations, even when your cell phone is turned off! 

We’re carrying our bugging devices around with us. How did we get to a place in which it is OK for the FBI to use your own cell phone to bug your house, but the “right to privacy” invented by the courts is used to support abortion.

HT to Health Knowledge Blog via Digg.

14 years ago three 8-year-old boys were savagely murdered, their naked bodies bound with their own shoelaces found in a drainage ditch in West Memphis. 3 youths that became known as the West Memphis 3 were convicted of the murders in a trial filled with Satanic overtones and public outrage.

The investigation was sloppy, the only confession coerced and the trial filled with inconsistencies (Freedonian has a nice summary if you can ignore the anti-Christian ranting, the complete story can be found in Court TV’s Crime Library). The entire affair has been the subject of 2 films (with another on the way) and 3 books, and numerous celebrities support retrial.

The retrial may be on its way: DNA from one of the murdered boy’s step-father, Terry Hobbs, has been discovered on the rope used to tie one of the boys. Terry Hobbs confirms that an investigator for the defense told him that one of his hairs had been found in the knots of the shoelace used to tie victim Michael Moore.

On the other hand, is a single hair enough for a retrial? No way, especially as police chief Mike Allen thinks the hairs presence is due to “normal transference”.

Still, the mother of one of the boys expresses her doubts:

Pam Hobbs said she “chose to believe all those years” that Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were guilty, despite her realization during the trials that the prosecutors “didn’t have anything” and persistent doubts afterwards that the defendants “were smart enough or hateful enough to have done it by themselves and clean it up.”

Whether you believe the death penalty is a deterrent or not, I can’t get past those cases in which the system simply makes a mistake. Which is why I still don’t support the death penalty.

In this case, the only one of the West Memphis 3 that sits on death row was a budding sociopath that has an IQ that makes Paris Hilton look brilliant and a history of mental illness. But there is evidence enough to show that a terrible miscarriage of justice took place in West Memphis 14 years ago, ruining the lives of three young men. As Court TV’s writer puts it:

The fight to have the guilty verdict reversed would require that the judicial system, intrinsically bureaucratic in nature, look within itself and acknowledge its own weaknesses and shortcomings. Any admission of its own failure will only occur under extreme public pressure and outrage at the injustice which has occurred. It takes time for such a process to occur, statistically at least ten years. Jessie and Jason have a lifetime, but whether Damien’s time will run out before this slow process is complete is yet to be seen.

After a small slew decisions today, the WaPo has come to the conclusion that the Supreme Court Leans Conservative:

Four of the five cases announced today were decided by the conservative majority led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., as the divisions that narrowly but decisively split the justices on social issues were on full display. . . .

Today’s decisions added to the court’s rising number of 5 to 4 votes this term, substantially higher than last year’s total. A few of them favor the court’s liberal wing, but conservatives are on a recent roll.

Predictably, the Red Rag NY Times is up in arms about the decisions, printing a small slew of articles and editorials in protest. Indeed, the editorial spells out the Times’ view in no uncertain terms: Three Bad Rulings.

Whether the rulings are “bad” or not depends entirely on one’s point of view.

The court upheld the right of a principal to suspend a student who promoted drug use by creating a banner that proclaimed, “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”. In light of the lack of discipline in our public schools, I don’t know that a restriction on children’s free speech is uncalled for.

The court split hairs in ruling that tax money could be funneled to faith-based initiatives if the source was the executive office rather than congressional decree (which is prohibited by precedent). But the unspoken conclusion is that precedent may be overturned by this court if the proper case presents itself. In other words, a bad precedent created by a liberal court may be overturned in the future.

But the high point of the day had to be the loosening of restrictions on free speech as a result of the Constitution-shredding McCain-Feingold. The court ruled that the only advertisements that can be kept off the air in the days before an election are, in the words of Chief Justice Roberts, “susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.”

Describing and then dismissing the rationale for the advertising restrictions, Chief Justice Roberts used a phrase that seemed to sum up the new majority’s view toward campaign finance regulation. “Enough is enough,” the chief justice said. . . .

It may be only a matter of time before the court reconsiders its 2003 decision upholding the constitutionality of the entire law, or at least expands its Monday decision to strike down any restriction on advertising. Three of the five justices in the majority, Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Clarence Thomas, declined to sign the chief justice’s opinion because it did not take that step.

Even before the last election I was vocal in my feelings that Bush’s domestic policies are little short of disastrous. But the conservatation* of the Supremes offsets that a little.

* Shakespeare made up over 3,000 words. Allow me this one.

Update: Liberal spin is gearing up on this one. Check out this headline: Supreme Court Sides With Administration, Corporations In New Decisions.

Once again, the gun instead of the criminal is being made the focus of crime and punishment.

Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin will join other Law Enforcement from around Tennessee Monday as part of a state wide effort to make your streets safer.

Their goal is to drum up support for the new Crooks with Guns legislation. Chief Godwin and other lawmen from around the state are fed up with the number of guns that fall into the hands of criminals.

Yeah, like the three machine guns, two semiautomatic handguns and two 12-gauge shot guns that were stolen out of a SWAT van in Memphis. (To be fair to Memphis police, the SWAT van belonged to some Raleigh, NC cops who were just passing through.)

“This weapon right here is an s.g. 551 6-hour 223 fully automatic it will shoot one round burst three round burst 20 round burst, this weapon right here is capable of firing 550 600 rounds per minute,” says Director Godwin.

Uh-oh, big scary gun! Must be bad!

Just how many of those weapons right there have been used in crimes? Not exactly the weapon of choice for the average Mapco holdup dude, is it?

And not relevant to the conversation other than the fact that it is just the kind of prop needed to make headlines and scare little old people into voting for the $70 million that will be required to pay for the results of the Crooks With Guns legislation.

State Senator Mark Norris (usually one of my favorite politicians) is co-sponsoring the bill and claims that similar legislation in NY state “cut crime by 58 percent.”

“We’re trying to crack down on violent criminals to quit coddling criminals,” says Norris.

Now we’re talking!

The bills cover crimes from illegal firearms to gang violence. It also adds extra prison time to repeat offenders who commit crimes with a guns.

Hey Mark, how about extra prison time to every repeat violent offender? I don’t care if someone uses a .22 popgun, an everyday screwdriver or (in the case of a rapist) a body part, violent assault is a dehumanizing, invasive, scary experience. A repeater offender shouldn’t get a chance to keep on doing it, no matter what the weapon of opportunity turns out to be.

Let’s quit blaming the gun and start focusing on the criminal.

I keep hearing that the administration’s foreign wiretap program is “unconstitutional”. These people should take a stroll over to the Volokh Conspiracy’s page on this subject.

Continue Reading »

Judge Anna Diggs-Taylor has ruled that the wiretaps being used to fight the War on Islamofacism is unconstitutional. Attorney Bryan Cunningham (former federal prosecutor under Clinton) tells us why her ruling is little more than a series of blunders.

First, the judge did not hold any hearings and thus did not hear any evidence. Moreover:

Worse, the judge clearly failed to do enough homework to understand the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act itself, much less the Fourth Amendment. She gets basic provisions of the statute itself wrong . . .

More worrisome still are the judge’s breathtaking mistakes in analyzing the Fourth and First Amendments—errors that would earn our first-year law student an “F.”

There’s much more, like this (my favorite line):

Her reasoning, to the extent one can follow it, is little more than one would find in watching a surreal “Schoolhouse Rock” episode.

Heh. Almost as funny as the cartoon from Cox & Forkum.

Cunningham is hardly alone: everyone who is anyone has taken up the cry. Example, this brutal bit from Mark Levin Fan in which he takes the decision apart:

Are there no limits to which activist judges won’t go to advance their political and policy agendas? Answer: No. I wrote an entire book about it. And U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor, appointed in the twilight of the Carter administration, is the latest in a long list of disgraceful lawyers who abuse their power.

Volokh Conspiracy’s Orin Kerr is puzzled over the lack of analysis and suspects that “this opinion is important more for its political impact and its triggering of appellate review than for any analysis in the opinion itself.“

Eugene Volokh says that it is a “seemingly angry, almost partisan-sounding opinion” while PowerLine calls the ruling pathetic.

Damnum absque injuria observes that “Jimmy Carter is the gift that keeps on giving.” In this case, a pro-terrorist judge.

Patterico has an excellent roundup and predicts:

I have now read the opinion. It is one of the most embarrassing pieces of garbage I have ever read. The idea that a sitting federal judge wrote such a shoddy piece of junk in a high-profile case should make even the most rabid Bush-hater squirm. …

And tomorrow, the media will shun expert analysis that would reveal these glaring deficiencies in her “reasoning.” Count on it.

Patterico seems to be wrong, as even WaPo calls the ruling a judicial misfire.

Technorati Tags:
Legacy of Jimmy Carter,
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War on Terror,
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Judge Anna Diggs-Taylor,
Reasons for Judicial Reform.

The Louisiana National Guard is back on the streets of New Orleans:

Nagin had sought the troops after five teenagers in an SUV were shot and killed in the city’s deadliest attack in at least 11 years. Police said the attack was apparently motivated by drugs or revenge. Also, a man was stabbed to death Sunday night in an argument over beer.

The city is only half the size that it was before Katrina, yet they have a police force 79% of the pre-Katrina size. And they are already losing control.

Crime has been creeping back into the city: 17 killings in the first three months of 2006, and 36 since the start of April.

There have been 53 murders in the city this year (by comparison, Memphis — with twice the current NO population — reached 80 a few days ago), and the rate is increasing. It sounds like gangs are moving back in and establishing new turf boundaries.

Tell me again, why are my tax dollars being used so someone else can live on the coast at below sea level?

Blogging cop (and write-in candidate for Sherrif) John Harvey has come up with yet another innovative idea: Cyber-Posse (alternate link here).

Some highlights:

1. Crime victims supply the police with contact information (email and/or phone number).
2. Whenever something happens on your case, you receive a system-generated notification, letting you know that your case hasn’t fallen into a black hole.
3. Citizens could receive emails about crimes that occur in their neighborhood:
   

   The police have noticed there have been several burglaries and/or thefts in a neighborhood where the perpetrators are stealing lawn mowers which are left in an open garage, carport, or in an easily accessible area. An email is sent to the people in that neighborhood alerting them to crimes and reminding them to fortify their home.

   That would give me a chance to hide in my attic with a shotgun with my garage door open and lawnmower on display.

4. My favorite is a web-cam registry. Citizens would be able to set up a web cam overlooking the street and anyone (including police) can observe the goings on. For those in poorer (and hence, high-crime) neighborhoods that can’t afford a cam, I’m certain people like me would be more than happy to set up a fund.
5. Citizens are notified when there are wanted fugitives in their neighborhood, allowing them to keep an eye out and send in tips if they see one.

There’s more — check it out.

The House issued a resolution scolding the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for dismissing a case brought by parents outraged that a school district surveyed their young children about sex. It then directed the 9^th to rehear the case en banc.

After a slew of “whereas”, H. Res. 547 reads:

Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that–

1. the fundamental right of parents to direct the education of their children is firmly grounded in the Nation’s Constitution and traditions;
2. the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Fields v. Palmdale School District undermines the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing of their children; and
3. the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit should agree to rehear the case en banc in order to reverse this constitutionally infirm ruling.

Lawmakers voted 320 to 91 for the resolution and I’m proud to say that my congressman voted for it.

A Washington Superior Court judge has upheld a ruling that comments made by radio talk-show hosts supporting anti-gas-tax Initiative 912 should be considered in-kind political contributions:

“Campaigns and media figures are going to have this in the back of their heads. ‘Am I too close to this, am I talking about this too much? Should I be having lunch with this guy from the campaign?’ ” said William Maurer, executive director of the Institute for Justice Washington Chapter, which represents I-912 in the case. …

The plaintiffs argued that KVI hosts John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur were actively involved in the initiative and used their shows to promote the measure.

How many bloggers are actively involved in getting political candidates elected or push select legislation? Am I going to have to start reporting the number of hours I spend on a particular issue? Where does it stop?

Does Michael Moore have to report his activities? Does anyone have to try and estimate his time and report it because it supports their cause? Where does it stop?

Somewhere, our Founding Fathers are grieving.