Submitted by mjewell on Sat, 02/27/2010 - 7:11pm.
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This year the MTACDL annual seminar will be held March 11-12, 2010, at the Chico Hot Springs Resort. It is jointly sponsored with the Federal Defenders of Montana, Inc. We have joined forces to put on one great seminar a year rather that each of us hosting one. This way we can share resources, attract nationally renowned speakers and have larger attendance.
Submitted by mjewell on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 3:54pm.
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Posted on boingboing: "The New Zeland police have launched a wiki open at anyone wanting to edit and make suggestions to the Police Act as part of a wider revamp. New Zealand's current Police Act is nearly 50 years old. In March 2006 a review undertaken. Following this a new website wiki.policeact.govt.nz has been launched to allow people to suggest wording for the new Policing Act. It uses similar wiki technology to the popular user-generated site Wikipedia. The wiki version of the Policing Act will be viewed by New Zealand parliamentarians, before an official bill is introduced into Parliament." NZ Police Superintendent Hamish McCardle, the officer in charge of developing the new act, said the initiative had already been described as a "new frontier of democracy". "People are calling it 'extreme democracy' and perhaps it is," he said.
Submitted by mjewell on Fri, 09/28/2007 - 3:48pm.
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Today, Judge Ann Aiken of the Oregon Federal District Court ruled that two provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), "50 U.S.C. §§ 1804 and 1823, as amended by the Patriot Act, are unconstitutional because they violate the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution." This case arose over warrantless surveillance of an innocent Oregon attorney who was falsely suspected of involvement with the Madrid train bombing based on a mistaken fingerprint identification.
Submitted by mjewell on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 1:06pm.
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The Montana Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Kirk Spencer for sexual intercourse without consent. The child hearsay declarant was 3 1/2 years-old. The Court analyzed child hearsay statements made to a private counselor and a foster parent. The US Supreme Court rulings in Crawford v. Washington and Davis v. Washington were analyzed as well as the correct procedure for consideration of child hearsay evidence in Montana under MCA, 46-16-220. The Court held that use of the child's statements to non law enforcement personnel did not violate the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause and that the District Court complied with the requisite procedure under MCA, 46-16-220 for introduction of the hearsay evidence. The decision is available on the Montana Supreme Court website. The citation is 2007 MT 245 (decided 9/25/07). The case number is 05-627. Search for a copy of the opinion here.
Submitted by mjewell on Wed, 09/26/2007 - 9:40am.
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[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Tuesday granted certiorari [orders list, PDF] in 17 cases for the October Term 2007, among them notable cases dealing with lethal injection, voter ID laws and subsequently seized evidence. In Baze v. Rees (07-5439) [docket; cert. petition], the Court will consider whether lethal injections of death row inmates constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. At issue is the three-drug mixture [DPIC backgrounder] of an anesthetic, a muscle paralyzer and a substance to stop the heart used in Kentucky and 36 other states. Opponents of the method claim that it does not contain enough anesthetic to relieve pain; however, the Kentucky Supreme Court in upholding the injection [JURIST report] last November ruled that the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment does not ban all pain. Last week, a federal judge in Tennessee held [JURIST report] that the state's execution protocols, which use the same three-drug cocktail, violate the Eighth Amendment because they do not ensure that prisoners are properly anesthetized before they receive a lethal injection. AP has more.
Submitted by mjewell on Mon, 09/24/2007 - 8:28am.
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Reported by Angela Goodhope: MTACDL members are cordially invited to attend a VIP reception with Rep. Roger Goodman, National Criminal Justice and Drug Policy Reform Leader on:
Tuesday, October 2
Submitted by admin on Fri, 09/21/2007 - 1:15pm.
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[JURIST] Federal prosecutors on Thursday handed down an indictment accusing Milberg Weiss name partner Melvyn Weiss [firm profile] of conspiracy, racketeering, obstruction of justice and making false statements. The indictment stems from a long-running US Attorney investigation into allegations that Milberg Weiss [firm website] paid up to $11.3 million in illegal kickbacks since 1984 to individuals to serve as lead plaintiffs in class action and shareholder derivative lawsuits. On Wednesday, federal prosecutors announced that former Milberg Weiss partner William S. Lerach has agreed to plead guilty [press release; JURIST report] to conspiracy to obstruct justice and will forfeit $7.75 million to the government, pay a $250,000 fine, and will serve one to two years in prison.
Submitted by admin on Thu, 09/20/2007 - 8:46am.
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[JURIST] A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Tennessee's execution procedures constitute "cruel and unusual" punishment, derailing plans to execute a death row inmate next week. US District Judge Aleta Trauger [official profile] held that revised death penalty protocols [PDF text; JURIST report], devised by the Tennessee Department of Corrections in April at the request of Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen [official website], do not ensure that prisoners' are properly anesthetized before they receive a lethal injection and thus violate their constitutional Eighth Amendment rights. The Tennessee Attorney General's office has not yet decided whether or not it will appeal the decision.
Submitted by admin on Wed, 09/19/2007 - 7:31am.
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[JURIST] US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell [official website] pushed for new and permanent changes to a recently passed temporary surveillance law in a statement [PDF text] to the House Judiciary Committee [official website] Tuesday. The Protect America Act 2007 [S 1927 materials], passed [JURIST report] by Congress in August, gives the Executive Branch expanded surveillance authority for a period of six months while Congress works on long-term legislation to "modernize" the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) [EFF Q&A] by establishing judicial oversight of domestic wiretapping. McConnell urged the panel to permanently update FISA to include the provisions of the Protect America Act, including changing the definition of electronic surveillance to exclude limitations on governmental surveillance "directed at a person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States." He pointed to threats both from terrorist groups and from China and Russia, nations which he says are spying on US activities and assets nearly at "Cold War levels." McConnell also proposed granting liability protection to members of the private sector connected to government anti-terror work, including telecommunications companies that aided government surveillance without a court order. McConnell made a similar push last week at a hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee [JURIST report].
Submitted by admin on Mon, 09/17/2007 - 7:17am.
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[JURIST] Alberto Gonzales [JURIST news archive] bade farewell to public service Friday, officially leaving the US Justice Department [official website] after a stormy 2 1/2 years as Attorney General. Gonzales resigned [JURIST report] late last month in the midst of controversy surrounding the firings of several US Attorneys and subsequent allegations that he may have perjured himself in testimony on the matter before Congress. Gonzales had indicated that his resignation would take effect September 17 [JURIST report]. In his last public speech [text] at DC's Bolling Air Force Base as part of its Hispanic Heritage Month celebration, Gonzales stressed his Justice Department initiatives against violent crime, child sex abuse, and terrorism, but insisted that he left office with optimism:Over the past two and a half years, I have seen tyranny, dishonesty, corruption and depravity of types I never thought possible. I've seen things I didn't know man was incapable of.
But I will tell you here and now that these things still leave me hopeful. Because every time I see a glimmer of the evil man can do, I see the defenders of liberty, truth, and justice who stand ready to fight it. Later Friday at the Justice Department itself, Gonzales spoke briefly to staff and employees at a ceremony attended by a number of serving and former Bush administration officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and former White House chief of staff Andy Card. Speakers at the event praised Gonzales for his work and his character notwithstanding the complaints of critics who accuse him of having greatly politicized the department out of excessive loyalty to the President, whom he previously served as White House counsel. The White House is expected to nominate a new attorney general soon; former Solicitor General Theodore Olson [JURIST report] and US Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge William Wilkins [official profile], among others, have been touted as possible successors. In the interim, Solicitor General Paul Clement will serve as acting attorney general. AP has more.
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