Clipmarks | ratilfar's 'justice' clips

AT&T thanks the Blue Dog Democrats with a lavish party

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 15:49:06 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Selling out the country has it's benefits.

Last night in Denver, at the Mile High Station -- next to Invesco Stadium, where Barack Obama will address a crowd of 30,000 people on Thursday night -- AT&T threw a lavish, private party for Blue Dog House Democrats, virtually all of whom blindly support whatever legislation the telecom industry demands and who also, specifically, led the way this July in immunizing AT&T and other telecoms from the consequences for their illegal participation in the Bush administration's warrantless spying program. Matt Stoller has one of the listings for the party here.

Amazingly, not a single one of the 25-30 people we tried to interview would speak to us about who they were, how they got invited, what the party's purpose was, why they were attending, etc.

It was as though they knew they're part of a filthy and deeply corrupt process and were ashamed of -- or at least eager to conceal -- their involvement in it.

Tags: at&t, telecoms, blue, dogs, privacy, justice, law, constitution

Goverment Spying: The Target is You

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 18:23:22 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: "They say the measures preserve civil liberties and are subject to internal oversight."

Oh yes, I find oxymoron so comforting.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

The Justice Department has proposed a new domestic spying measure that would make it easier for state and local police to collect intelligence about Americans, share the sensitive data with federal agencies and retain it for at least 10 years.

The proposed changes would revise the federal government's rules for police intelligence-gathering for the first time since 1993 and would apply to any of the nation's 18,000 state and local police agencies that receive roughly $1.6 billion each year in federal grants.

Taken together, critics in Congress and elsewhere say, the moves are intended to lock in policies for Bush's successor and to enshrine controversial post-Sept. 11 approaches that some say have fed the greatest expansion of executive authority since the Watergate era.

They say the measures preserve civil liberties and are subject to internal oversight.

Tags: spy, intelligence, civil liberties, law, injustice, constitution, imperial, presidency

Mukasey: "Not Every Wrong, Or Even Every Violation Of The Law, Is A Crime"

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:35:23 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Wait? WHAT! WTF!!!!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

NEW YORK — No criminal prosecutions are planned for former Justice Department officials accused of allowing politics to influence the hiring of prosecutors, immigration judges and other career government lawyers, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Tuesday.

Mukasey used his sharpest words yet to criticize the senior leaders who took part in or failed to stop illegal hiring practices during the tenure of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

But, he told delegates to the American Bar Association annual meeting, "Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws."

The political controversies prompted Gonzales' resignation last year.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said Mukasey "seems intent on insulating this administration from accountability."

Tags: law, order, justice, criminal, gop, republicans, corruption, wtf

Would Obama prosecute the Bush administration for torture?

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:17:48 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Good question? Is this what has Republicans terrified of an Obama presidency?

Clip Source: www.salon.com

Aug. 4, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- On the campaign trail in April, Barack Obama was asked whether, if elected, he would prosecute Bush administration officials for establishing torture as American policy. The candidate demurred. "If crimes have been committed, they should be investigated," he said. But he quickly added, "I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of the Republicans as a partisan witch hunt, because I think we've got too many problems to solve."

Prosecution of any officials, if it were to occur, would probably not occur during Obama's first term. Instead, we may well see a congressionally empowered commission that would seek testimony from witnesses in search of the truth about what occurred. Though some witnesses might be offered immunity in exchange for testimony, the question of whether anybody would be prosecuted would be deferred to a later date -- meaning Obama's second term, if such is forthcoming.

Tags: obama, bush, bushed, crimes, criminals, prosecution, law, justice

"Jimmy Justice" Videos: Vigilante Films Cops Breaking The Law In New York

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:37:01 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

He calls himself "Jimmy Justice," a self-styled "cop-arazzi," armed only with a video camera as he prowls the streets of New York looking for law enforcement officers who are breaking the law. His targets are illegally parked city government vehicles -- particularly cars of traffic cops blocking bus stops, sitting in "no parking" zones or double-parked.

Cop cars blocking fire hydrants make him particularly incensed.

"Something like that is just despicable," Jimmy fumed, pointing to a police enforcement vehicle parked next to a fire hydrant on 33rd Street on Manhattan's West Side on a muggy July afternoon. "They're never allowed to block a fire hydrant -- but they do it."

[Video]

He posts his best videos on YouTube and sends regular e-mail to the union representing the city's traffic enforcement agents, pointing out the most egregious parking offenses. And he has gotten results, he said, with some parking enforcers being fined because of his videos.

[Video]

Tags: nyc, new york, police, video, jimmy justice, law

A federal court rejects Bush's "executive privilege" claims

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:32:42 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: And did some liberal "I make the law from the bench" write this ruling? Errrm....NO!

"as a Federal District Judge, John D. Bates of the District of Columbia District Court -- a Bush 43-appointed (and generally very pro-Bush-administration) Judge as well as the former Deputy Independent Counsel for the Whitewater investigations -- held in a 93-page ruling (.pdf) that Bush aides Harriet Miers (former White House counsel) and Josh Bolten (White House Chief of Staff) are not entitled to absolute immunity from Congressional subpoenas."

Clip Source: www.salon.com

As part of its investigation, the Judiciary Committee issued Subpoenas to Miers and Bolten in an effort to find out, among other things, who actually made the decision for those U.S. attorneys to be fired. The subpoenas ordered Miers to appear before the Committee in order to testify, and ordered both to produce documents to the Committee. Both Miers and Bolten refused to comply with the Subpoenas. Miers simply failed to show up for her hearing, while Bolten refused to produce the demanded documents. They did so in reliance on the Bush administration‘s claim that both of them, as top-level aides to the President, enjoyed absolute immunity from Congressional subpoenas. It was that extremist theory which the court today rejected -- and rejected decisively and unequivocally.

In unusually strong language, the court pointed out that the President's claim that his aides enjoyed absolute immunity from Congressional investigations was "unprecedented" and "without any support in case law" (p. 3)

Tags: excutive privilige, justice, congress, white house, privilige, none

Justice Department indicts Sen. Ted Stevens

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:44:09 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Oh Boy!

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

WASHINGTON - Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican senator and a figure in Alaska politics since before statehood, has been indicted on seven counts of falsely reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in services he received from a company that helped renovate his home.

From May 1999 to August 2007, prosecutors said Stevens concealed "his continuing receipt of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of things of value from a private corporation."

The indictment released Tuesday said the items included: home improvements to his vacation home in Alaska, including a new first floor, garage, wraparound deck, plumbing, electrical wiring; as well as car exchanges, a Viking gas grill, furniture and tools.

Justice Department officials were holding a news conference later Tuesday to discuss the charges.

Prosecutors said Stevens "took multiple steps to continue" receiving things from oil services company VECO Corp., and its founder, Bill Allen.

Tags: r, republican, alaska, theft, crime

Your Department of Injustice and Illegality at Work

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:21:31 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Roll it!

Clip Source: youtube.com

[Video]

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

Tags: doj, justice, injustice, illegal, illegality, criminal, corruption, bush

Bush turns the DoJ into personal law firm.

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 01:46:39 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Senior aides to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales broke the law by using politics to guide their hiring decisions for a wide range of important department positions, slowing the hiring process at critical times and damaging the department’s credibility and independence, an internal report concluded Monday.

Ms. Goodling interviewed the woman herself for possible positions and wrote in her notes such phrases as “pro-God in public life,” and “pro-marriage, anti-civil union.” She was eventually hired as a career prosecutor.

Ms. Goodling also conducted extensive searches on the Internet to glean the political or ideological leanings of candidates for career positions, the report found. She and other Justice Department supervisors would look for key phrases like “abortion,” “homosexual,” “guns,” or “Florida re-count” to get information on a candidate’s political leanings.

Tags: legal, illegal, law, broken, bush, criminal, right wing

McCain: I Know How to Capture Bin Laden

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 19:56:39 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Really, well then, lets go John, let's get that bastard! You did tell the Preznit how to do it, right? And SOCOM and Central Command. I mean I am sure they would want to know, or are you keeping them out of the loop John?

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

As developments on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to undermine his campaign, Republican John McCain tried to play the Bin Laden card on Friday. Repeating his claim “I know how to win wars,” McCain told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that “I know how” to capture Osama Bin Laden. Apparently, the McCain strategy, as he never tires of telling voters, is to follow Bin Laden to “the gates of hell.”

“I’m not going to telegraph a lot of the things that I’m going to do because then it might compromise our ability to do so. But, look, I know the area, I have been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden — or put it this way, bring him to justice…We will do it, I know how to do it.”

Download | Play Download | Play

No doubt, McCain hasn’t been shy when it comes to explaining how he’ll bag Bin Laden.
(Read the rest of this story…)

Tags: osama, mccain, mclame, mcstupid, war on terror, afghanistan

If the U.S. can do it, why can't we? Sudan dodges war crimes and uses U.S. as excuse.

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:37:00 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Let freedom ring with the cries of the tortured and the dead!

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

Last week, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) filed charges for the first time against a sitting head of state, charging President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan with three counts of genocide, five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. Fareed Zakaria had Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations on his CNN show, GPS, to discuss the charges, which he called “a joke” and cited the U.S.’ 2002 withdrawal from the ICC treaty as an example of why Sudan does not recognize the court’s authority and will not cooperate with it:

Download | Play Download | Play

MOHAMAD: No. I don’t care about them. As far as we are concerned, we are not members. We have been told these days repeatedly that the ICC is an independent body. And so, OK, if it’s an independent body, I am not a U.N. organ. We have full right to be part of it or not. And we choose not to be part of it, like the United States. …(full transcript)

Tags: war crimes, criminals, icc, international law, law, justice

Radovan Karadzic Captured In Serbia

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 02:35:09 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Yes!

Clip Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

BELGRADE, Serbia — Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic, accused architect of massacres and the politician considered most responsible for the deadly siege of Sarajevo, was arrested Monday evening in a Serbian police raid ending his 13 years as the world's most-wanted war crimes fugitive.

His alleged partner in the persecution and "cleansing" of tens of thousands of Bosnian Muslims and Croats, former Bosnian Serb military chief Ratko Mladic, remained at large.

"This is a very important day for the victims who have waited for this arrest for over a decade. It is also an important day for international justice because it clearly demonstrates that nobody is beyond the reach of the law," said Serge Brammertz, the tribunal's head prosecutor.

Tags: justice, law, war crimes

Secret memo shows Israel knew Settlements were illegal

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:52:09 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: The argument that the settlements are illegal, stated in successive UN resolutions, and by the International Court of Justice advisory opinion condemning the separation barrier in 2004, is reinforced by such an authoritative source. It strengthens the political case in any "final status" negotiations on borders with the Palestinians for genuinely equitable land swaps of Israeli territory to a future Palestinian state if Israel is to retain settlement blocks.

Clip Source: www.independent.co.uk

A senior legal official who secretly warned the government of Israel after the Six Day War of 1967 that it would be illegal to build Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories has said, for the first time, that he still believes that he was right.

The declaration by Theodor Meron, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's legal adviser at the time and today one of the world's leading international jurists, is a serious blow to Israel's persistent argument that the settlements do not violate international law, particularly as Israel prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the war in June 1967.

Judge Meron, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia until 2005, said that, after 40 years of Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank - one of the main problems to be solved in any peace deal: "I believe that I would have given the same opinion today."

Tags: israel, palestine, justice, law, legal, illegal

Evidence Faulted in Detainee Case

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:54:55 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: This is what the Republicans feared, that their flimsy reasoning would be blown out of the water!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

In the first case to review the government’s secret evidence for holding a detainee at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, a federal appeals court found that accusations against a Muslim from western China held for more than six years were based on bare and unverifiable claims. The unclassified parts of the decision were released on Monday.

With some derision for the Bush administration’s arguments, a three-judge panel said the government contended that its accusations against the detainee should be accepted as true because they had been repeated in at least three secret documents.

The court compared that to the absurd declaration of a character in the Lewis Carroll poem “The Hunting of the Snark”: “I have said it thrice: What I tell you three times is true.”

“This comes perilously close to suggesting that whatever the government says must be treated as true,” said the panel of the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Tags: courts, law, detainees, justice, war, war on terror, gitmo

From the Justice Department to the Just Us Department

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 14:34:38 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar
clipper's remarks: Done nothing wrong you say? Clinton did it to? I guess it ain't wrong (even if it is, you know, illegal, only illegals are illegal I guess) if we do it!

Situational morality at its worse!

Clip Source: www.crooksandliars.com

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it appears the Justice Department, throughout Bush’s two terms, flagrantly and repeatedly broke the law by politicizing the hiring process. Yes, I know we knew that before, but the DoJ’s Inspector General has made it official.

Justice Department officials over the last six years illegally used “political or ideological” factors to hire new lawyers into an elite recruitment program, tapping law school graduates with conservative credentials over those with liberal-sounding resumes, a new report found Tuesday.

The blistering report, prepared by the Justice Department’s inspector general, is the first in what will be a series of investigations growing out of last year’s scandal over the firings of nine United States attorneys. It appeared to confirm for the first time in an official examination many of the allegations from critics who charged that the Justice Department had become overly politicized during the Bush administration.

Tags: department, of, injustice, situational, morality, illegality