Prometheus 6

McPhail said McCargo and Copeland are "critical to the defense" of Kilpatrick and urged a stay in the proceedings. Granholm has said she lacks subpoena power to compel testimony, but McPhail urged her to reconsider.

"The fact is that the inability to compel the attendance of the witnesses is a serious, if not fatal, blow to the defense in the removal proceedings," she wrote.

5 lawyers won't testify at Kilpatrick's hearing
Mayor's counsel argues some are crucial to defense
BY ZACHARY GORCHOW • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • August 29, 2008

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is expected to continue with her removal hearing against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick even though lawyers who were part of the police whistle-blower suit at the heart of the text message scandal decided not to testify.

Five attorneys will not appear at the Wednesday removal hearing -- if it occurs, following a lawsuit the mayor's attorneys filed Thursday to block it.

The Bush administration had already indicated it would appeal but Justice Department lawyers said Wednesday that they will ask the court to step in quickly and temporarily put Miers' appearance on hold while the appeal plays out. It's a risky move for an administration that has spent years trying to strengthen the power of the presidency.

If the appeals court refuses to temporarily block the testimony, it would essentially be endorsing Bates' ruling against the Bush administration. Miers likely would have to comply with the subpoena, setting a precedent that would give Congress new teeth in its investigations and weaken future presidents.

Don't worry, I know you mean "restore the Constitutionally mandated balance of power" rather than "weaken future presidents."  But do it again and I'll start issuing demerits.

Bush steps up fight over congressional authority
By MATT APUZZO
The Associated Press
Thursday, August 28, 2008; 12:53 AM

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is raising the stakes in a court fight that could change the balance of power between the White House and Congress.

Justice Department lawyers said Wednesday that they will soon ask a federal appeals court not to force the president's top advisers to comply with congressional subpoenas next month. President Bush argues Congress doesn't have the authority to demand information from his aides.

At $45 a day, South Carolina spends less per inmate than any other state.

State ACLU calls for independent investigation into prisons system
By Yvonne Wenger
The Post and Courier
Wednesday, August 27, 2008

COLUMBIA — The seriousness and number of complaints lobbed by prison workers and inmates against the S.C. Department of Corrections prompted the state's American Civil Liberties Union office on Tuesday to call for more independent investigation.

The request comes after the state Legislative Audit Council dropped plans for a survey of working conditions in the agency. Prisons Director Jon Ozmint had criticized the survey as being an effort to blame administrators for the agency's woes.

"The mayor has to understand with the hearing going forward, his biggest bargaining chip -- his resignation -- could disappear at any time, especially if the hearing is not going in his favor," said Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor.

With historic hearing, Granholm sends clear message to Kilpatrick
Pressure on mayor to get plea deal quickly
BY ZACHARY GORCHOW, BEN SCHMITT and SUZETTE HACKNEY • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS •
August 27, 2008

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has designed the removal hearing she ordered for next week against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick in a way that makes it difficult for Kilpatrick to survive in office, legal experts say.

"It's a clear message to Kwame that he's going to lose," said Maurice Kelman, a retired Wayne State University law professor. "There's no way she can exonerate him."

There will be approximately 25 seats in the hearing room available for the public on Sept. 3 and on each subsequent day, if necessary. Selection will be by lottery and citizens wishing to be considered will need to be in line at the corner of Milwaukee Street and Second Avenue in the New Center area by 7 a.m. on the hearing day. Credentials for the public will not be transferable, and photo identification will be required. Citizens seated on any given day will not be seated on following days.

Provisions will be made for television stations to broadcast the hearing live, as well as for news organizations to air the hearing live on their Web sites.

Granholm to proceed with Kilpatrick ouster hearing
By Zachary Gorchow and Todd Spangler • Free Press Staff Writers • August 26, 2008

Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced today that she will subject Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to a hearing Sept. 3 on whether to remove Kilpatrick from office.

Granholm’s decision, anticipated for weeks, sets up a historic hearing at the Cadillac Place Building in Detroit in which the mayor will have to convince the governor that his handling of a police whistle-blower settlement does not constitute official misconduct.

The mayor’s office said it was “very disappointed” with the decision.

Data Breaches Have Surpassed Level for All of '07, Report Finds
By Brian Krebs
Washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Tuesday, August 26, 2008; D01

More data breaches have been reported so far this year than in all of 2007, according to a report released yesterday by a nonprofit group that works to prevent fraud.

Identity Theft Resource Center of San Diego found that 449 U.S. businesses, government agencies and universities have reported a loss or theft of consumer data this year. Last year, the center tallied 446 breaches involving 127 million consumer records. About 90 million of those records were attributed to a single retail chain, TJX, which operates T.J. Maxx stores.

Once a person is being monitored, pattern-recognition software first identifies their typical behaviour, such as repeated calls to certain numbers over a period of a few months. The software can then identify any deviations from the norm and flag up unusual activities, such as transactions with a foreign bank, or contact with someone who is also under surveillance, so that analysts can take a closer look.

However, it is far from clear whether the technology will prove accurate. Security experts warn that data-fusion technologies tend to produce a huge number of false positives, flagging up perfectly innocent people as suspicious...."If you're looking for burglars in a run-down district where 50 per cent of men have a criminal conviction, you may find plenty. But if you're trying to find terrorists among airline passengers - where they are extremely rare - then almost all your hits will be false."

Surveillance made easy
09:00 23 August 2008
NewScientist.com news service
Laura Margottini

"THIS data allows investigators to identify suspects, examine their contacts, establish relationships between conspirators and place them in a specific location at a certain time."

So said the UK Home Office last week as it announced plans to give law-enforcement agencies, local councils and other public bodies access to the details of people's text messages, emails and internet activity. The move followed its announcement in May that it was considering creating a massive central database to store all this data, as a tool to help the security services tackle crime and terrorism.

Professor Olu Agbi said "greedy" Australians who tried to partake in these crimes - even though they are scams - should be arrested as well.

"People who send their money are as guilty as those who are asking them to send the money," he said.

Jail the 'greedy' scam victims, says Nigerian diplomat
Asher Moses
August 22, 2008

THE Nigerian high commissioner says people who are ripped off by so-called Nigerian scams are just as guilty as the fraudsters and should be jailed.

Responding to a story in yesterday's Herald, which revealed Australians lose at least $36 million a year to the online scams, Sunday Olu Agbi said Australians had failed to heed repeated warnings not to deal with shady characters on the internet.

The lesson is simple: In the United States of America, you don't arrest people simply because they assemble to protest government policy.

$2M settlement is a cop wakeup call
Tuesday, August 19th 2008, 9:24 PM

Around 8 a.m. on the morning of April 7, 2003, Sarah Kunstler, daughter of legendary civil rights lawyer Bill Kunstler, joined a small protest in Manhattan against the fledgling Iraq war.

"I was in law school at Columbia at the time," Sarah Kunstler recalled Tuesday. "I had my knapsack and books with me, and I thought the demonstration was early enough so I'd be able to get to class on time."

She thought wrong.

This.

The Convention Papers

You have to wonder what the New York City Police Department is trying to hide. The department says it has documents that explain and justify its mass arrests during the 2004 Republican convention. But, it won’t release them.

Built with high-tech composite materials and camouflaged to blend in with the ocean, they are estimated to cost up to several million dollars apiece.

For US, a terror threat lurks in drug smuggling subs
Shift of cargo to arms and people is feared
By Bryan Bender, Globe Staff  |  August 17, 2008

KEY WEST, Fla. - Skimming just below the surface, they are extremely difficult to detect from surveillance aircraft or patrol boats. Their sleek design, up to 80 feet in length, can secretly carry several tons of cargo thousands of miles.

These "semi-submersibles," which exhibit some of the same characteristics as military submarines, mark a significant advancement in the ability of drug smugglers to slip past coastal defenses.

Two wrongs don't make a right because you can't undo things. But two wrongs can make justice.

It's that or abandon capital punishment.

Let the people hired in an improper way reapply and compete fairly for the jobs. Because so many of them were from Regent Law School, a basic competency test should weed out most of them.

Justice Dept. Issues a Callback
Illegally Rejected Applicants Urged to Try for Open Jobs
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 13, 2008; A02

Job applicants who were rejected by the Justice Department because of improper political considerations will be urged to apply for open positions, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey told an audience yesterday.

Baker responded that he was not present with any discussions Thomas may have had with McDuffee after the arraignment to clarify the bond terms. He said he believed the bond required Kilpatrick to avoid contact with all witnesses, ranging from his police bodyguards to his sister.

You did NOT really believe the man was barred from seeing his family. Your job is to fuck with the man as much as possible as preparation for the trial. You want to keep him in front of a judge as much as possible, no matter how trivial or unusual the offense.

Which is not to say Kwame ain't dirty. It's not to say is ain't clean. I don't know the specifics of the case, and that is intentional. I just recognize piling on when I see it. 

Kilpatrick did not violate the terms of his bond, judge rules
By M.L. ELRICK • Free Press Staff Writer • August 12, 2008

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick left court this morning arm in arm with his wife, moments after Judge Ronald Giles ruled that he did not violate the terms of his bond by being with a police bodyguard and the mayor's sister, who both witnessed his alleged assault on sheriff's deputies last month.

Giles agreed to add a Michigan state trooper to the list of people the mayor is forbidden to have contact with, bringing that total to three. The other two witnesses the mayor must avoid are Wayne County Sheriff Detective Brian White, whom he allegedly shoved, and former Detroit Police Sgt. JoAnn Kinney, who has said the mayor shoved White into her.

My initial title for this was "Of course, that's why he was hired." Then I read this.

“Where there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, we vigorously prosecute,” he said. “But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime,” he said.

Do you see that? Let me repeat it.

“But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime,” he said.

You're going to have to explain to me how any violation of the law is not a crime. Jesus Christ, that's the whole Bush administration in a nutshell.

What is the standard by which Mukasey determins which violations of the law are not crimes?

Mukasey Won’t Pursue Charges in Hiring Inquiry
By ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Tuesday rejected the idea of criminally prosecuting former Justice Department employees who improperly used political litmus tests in hiring decisions, saying he had already taken strong internal steps in response to a “painful” episode.

The mayor said he was handcuffed for about two hours along with his mother-in-law. No charges were brought against Calvo or his wife, who came home during the raid.

Prince George's County Police Chief Melvin High said Wednesday that Calvo and his family were "most likely . . . innocent victims," but he would not rule out their involvement. He and other officials did not apologize for killing the dogs, saying the officers felt threatened.

FBI looking into pot raid of Maryland mayor's home
Cheye Calvo and his wife appear to be innocent victims of a marijuana smuggling scheme. Their two dogs were shot dead by officers.
From the Associated Press
August 8, 2008

BERWYN HEIGHTS, MD. — Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside.

Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple's two dogs and seizing the unopened package. Inside was 32 pounds of marijuana that evidently didn't belong to the couple.

Police now say the mayor and his wife appear to have been innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars' worth of the drug by having it delivered to about half a dozen unsuspecting recipients.

Missing votes spark lawsuit
Brunner: Touch-screen machines defective, company should pay
Thursday,  August 7, 2008 3:24 AM
By Mark Niquette
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

The touch-screen voting setup used in half of Ohio's 88 counties doesn't work properly, and the former Diebold Election Systems should pay as a result, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner said in a court filing yesterday.

The move comes fewer than 90 days before Ohio voters go to the polls in an election that could decide the presidential race, but Brunner says safeguards will be in place by then in the affected counties to mitigate any risks.

"We will make the equipment work, but this is not something that Ohio should be satisfied with for the long term," Brunner said. "Our goal is to have Ohio taxpayers compensated for this equipment that doesn't function properly."

Detroit Mayor Ordered Jailed
By NICK BUNKLEY

DETROIT — A judge ordered Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick to the county jail on Thursday for violating the terms of his bond by traveling to Canada last month without court approval.

The pronouncement from Judge Ronald Giles of Federal District Court means that Mr. Kilpatrick, who is fighting perjury and other felony charges but has refused calls to resign, will likely spend at least one night in jail but would be released after posting $75,000 bail. The mayor’s lawyers were seeking an immediate appeal.

Mr. Kilpatrick apologized to Judge Giles for his July 23 trip to Windsor, Ontario, on the opposite shore of the Detroit River, saying he would not make another such mistake and noting that he had asked his young sons to watch the hearing. But the judge responded that he must treat the mayor as he would any other defendant.

“If it was not Kwame Kilpatrick sitting in that seat — if it was John Six Pack sitting in the seat — what would I do?” Judge Giles said.

The Huffington Post reports the Justice Department is issuing subpoena to former employees to compel testimony, or at least a Fifth Amendment assertion, of the politization of its Civil Rights division by Bradley Schlozman.

They're going after Hans von Spakovsky, famous for forgetting WHY he was working to restrict minority voting rights (with a special emphasis on Native Americans), and Jason Torchinsky, who held a similar position to von Spakovsky...both the employment position and the refusal to testify position.

You have the proverbial snowball's chance in Gehenna of getting the truth out of those two. I suggest contacting Carl Goldman, executive director of AFSCME's Council 26, the union that represents non-attorney staff in the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.

The indictment alleges that after they collected the data, the conspirators concealed the data in encrypted computer servers that they controlled in Eastern Europe and the United States. They allegedly sold some of the credit and debit card numbers, via the Internet, to other criminals in the United States and Eastern Europe.

TJX identity theft saga continues: 11 charged with pilfering millions of credit cards
Submitted by Layer 8 on Tue, 08/05/2008 - 2:48pm.

The Justice Department charged 11 people in connection with the massive credit and debit card number theft from various retailers, including TJX, BJs and OfficeMax.

The group charged were involved in the theft of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers that officials said they is the largest identity-theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice.

In an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in Boston, Albert "Segvec" Gonzalez, of Miami, was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme. Charges were also brought on related charges against Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, both of Miami, the DOJ said.  Gonzalez was previously arrested by the Secret Service in 2003 for access device fraud. During the course of this investigation, the Secret Service discovered that Gonzalez, who was working as a confidential informant for the agency, was criminally involved in the case. Because of the size and scope of his criminal activity, Gonzalez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted of all the charges alleged in the Boston indictment.

Others from Estonia, China and Belarus were also charged.

911 systems choking on non-emergency calls
Pranksters, clueless callers block lines for legitimate crises
By Alex Johnson
Reporter
MSNBC
updated 6:30 p.m. ET, Tues., Aug. 5, 2008

Which of these is an emergency?

• A Subway sandwich shop in Florida leaves the mayo and mustard off a customer’s order.
• A Texas man can’t get a cab.
• A Tennessee man’s stepfather keeps nagging him to do the laundry.

To hear callers to 911 emergency lines tell it, all are.

Eddie Mitchell, a 911 dispatcher in Rancho Cordova, Calif., near Sacramento, likes to tell the story of the caller who demanded to know why the Transportation Department hadn’t mowed the grass. Another wanted to know how to use his cell phone.

“We’ve had people call in asking us to bring them milk,” Mitchell said.

Civil liberties union sues NYPD over race records
August 4, 2008

NEW YORK --The New York Civil Liberties Union has sued the New York Police Department seeking records identifying the race of everyone shot by city police officers since January 1997.

The NYCLU says the lawsuit filed Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court is part of its effort to determine if race has played an inappropriate role in police shootings.

The group says that about 90 percent of people shot by police in years past were black or Hispanic. The NYPD says the finding comports with the fact that 98.6 percent of all shooting suspects in the last six months and 97.5 percent of shooting victims were black or Hispanic.

Judge removed from cases against 'Jena Six' teens
By MARY FOSTER, Associated Press Writer
Fri Aug 1, 4:40 PM ET

NEW ORLEANS - The judge overseeing the criminal cases for the remaining Jena Six defendants was removed against his will Friday for making questionable remarks about the teenagers.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens "trouble makers" and "a violent bunch" but insisted he could be impartial. Defense attorneys disagreed and asked that he be removed.

Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was appointed by the state Supreme Court to decide whether Mauffray should be taken off the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety.

"The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases," Yeager wrote.

Dr. Byrne said he believed Dr. Ivins was singled out partly because of his personal weaknesses. “They figured he was the weakest link,” Dr. Byrne said. “If they had real evidence on him, why did they not just arrest him?”

Another former co-worker, Dr. Kenneth W. Hedlund, who collaborated on anthrax research with Dr. Ivins in the 1980s, had a similar theory.

“The investigators looked around, they decided they had to find somebody. They went after all of them but he looked the most susceptible to pressure,” Dr. Hedlund said. “It is like prisoners of war: if they are harassed enough, they will be driven to do anything. But I don’t believe he would have done what they say he did.”

With such views voiced by Dr. Ivins’s acquaintances — and vocal skepticism from key members of Congress — the pressure is growing on the F.B.I. to unveil its evidence.

Pressure Grows for F.B.I. to Show Anthrax Evidence
By SCOTT SHANE and NICHOLAS WADE

WASHINGTON — After four years of painstaking scientific research, the F.B.I. by 2005 had traced the anthrax in the poisoned letters of 2001 to a single flask of the bacteria at the Army biodefense laboratory at Fort Detrick, Md., according to government scientists and bureau officials.

But at least 10 scientists had regular access to the laboratory and its anthrax stock — and possibly quite a few more, counting visitors from other institutions, and workers at laboratories in Ohio and New Mexico that had received anthrax samples from the flask at the Army laboratory.

Lawyer suggests Scruggs got witness help from Lott

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) An insurance company's attorney suggested during a sworn deposition that former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott urged witnesses to give false information in a Hurricane Katrina lawsuit, according to court records.

The implication was made last week during a deposition with Lott's nephew, Zach Scruggs, who represented the former Mississippi Republican senator after his Pascagoula home was destroyed by the 2005 storm. Zach Scruggs is the son and law partner of disgraced former attorney Richard ''Dickie'' Scruggs, Lott's brother-in-law.

''Has it been your custom and habit in prosecuting litigation to have Senator Lott contact and encourage witnesses to give false information?'' State Farm Fire & Casualty Cos. attorney Jim Robie asked, according to a transcript of the deposition.

 

This was the third time in his 10 years with FCPL that the FBI has come to the library seeking records, Batson said. It was the first time they came without a court order....

"They had an awful lot of information," he said, but he was not allowed to discuss specifics.

"It was a decision I made on my experience and the information given to me," he said.

 

FBI seizes local Md. library computers
August 3, 2008 - 9:41am

The FBI removed computer records from the C. Burr Artz Library this week, a library official confirmed Saturday.

Darrell Batson, director of Frederick County Public Libraries, said two FBI employees came to the downtown Frederick library either Wednesday or Thursday. The agents removed two public computers from the library's second floor. They told him they were taking the units back to their office in Washington, D.C., Batson said.