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The Daily Muck
Expert Declares Padilla Mentally Unfit for Trial
“Alleged al-Qaida operative Jose Padilla suffers from intense stress and anxiety after being imprisoned in isolation for years and cannot adequately help his lawyers prepare for a criminal trial, a mental expert testified Thursday.” Padilla is charged with helping al-Qaida operatives in North America provide supplies, money, and new recruits to other terrorist cells. (Time)
Day Three of Libby Deliberations
The jury in the perjury and obstruction case against Lewis “Scooter” Libby continues today with its third day of deliberations. In deciding the case, the jury must consider the reliability of “sloppy and often inconsistent” notes taken by Libby, FBI Agents, and New York Times reporter Judith Miller. (Associated Press)
5 Years in Prison for Oil-For-Food Conspiracy
“A judge sentenced a 71-year-old to five years in prison for participating in a conspiracy involving the United Nations’ oil-for-food program. U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said the sentence was harsh for a defendant in poor health, but said it was reasonable and appropriate for Tongsun Park, convicted of accepting at least $2 million to secretly work on Iraq’s behalf to influence the oil-for-food program. (Associated Press)
Education Department Inspector General Still Critical of “Reading First”
“The Department of Education Inspector General (IG) released another in a series of reports highly critical of the Reading First program, part of the Bush administration’s signature ‘No Child Left Behind Act.’” A previous IG report alleged that the program broke rules against controlling the curricula of individual schools. (CREW)
Veteran Lawyer Returns to White House
Having served as council to both the Nixon and Reagan administrations, Fred Fielding has been brought back to the White House to handle the anticipated legal fights with the Democratic Congress. Fielding hopes to use his experience to help the White House provide Congress information without “‘giving away the execute branch prerogatives.’” (The Boston Globe)
Josh
Zachary
Mr. Padilla's defense attorneys should file countersuits against the federal government. Whatever his alleged crimes, and all are alleged and unproven, he is a US citizen who has been deprived of his life and liberty without due process. There has been egregious and intentional abuse of process. He has suffered significant harm as a direct consequence of that government action. Not only has the government taken his liberty, it has, at least temporarily, taken his sanity. Kafka? Koestler? Woody Allen on crack?
Spies, gangsters, Hell's Angels, and SEC violators are treated more fairly. No matter the secrets they spill, the numbers they kill, or the hundreds or thousands of pensions and futures they steal.
Have you no shame, we might ask of Cheney or Gonzales or Yoo? We know the answer. What's the consequence?
February 23, 2007 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm surprised that Libby's defense did not petition the judge to re-open the trial in light of the fact that Padilla got to have memory experts testify while they were denied the opurrunity to have memory experts testify.
February 23, 2007 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Presumably, Mr. Libby's defense attorneys were not pleading that his work for the OVP, and his enforced close relationship with Mr. Cheney, led to his insanity. If they had, then both sides could have had their psychiatrists evaluate Mr. Libby's competence to stand trial and submit their findings to the court.
February 23, 2007 11:06 PM | Reply | Permalink