Kirk Smith: Law/Legislation/Courts

DNA Profiles Link Dope to Its Source

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:43:00 GMT

09 Jul 03

Forensic scientists in the U.S. are applying DNA fingerprinting methods to the cannabis plant. They say the technique, which is being used to create a database of DNA profiles of different marijuana plants, will help them to trace the source of any sample.

'It links everybody together: the user, the distributor, the grower,' says the database's creator, Heather Miller Coyle of the Connecticut State Forensic Science Laboratory in Meriden. 'That's the real intent of it, to show it's not just one guy with a little bag of marijuana, but it's a group of people.'

A method for spotting the tiniest traces of marijuana, based on detecting DNA unique to cannabis chloroplasts, has already been developed in the UK (New Scientist print edition, 07 Aug 1999). But the profiling method, based on the same principles as DNA fingerprinting of people, can distinguish between closely related cannabis plants (Croatian Medical Journal, vol 44, p 315).

In a case awaiting trial in Connecticut, prosecutors plan to use cannabis DNA profiles to show that two apparently separate cannabis growing operations were actually linked. The two operations, in different parts of the state appeared separate until analysis of the plants revealed that some had identical DNA fingerprints, showing that the growers were sharing material. [NewScientist.com]

Cheney Loses Ruling on Energy Panel Records

Thu, 10 Jul 2003 07:01:17 GMT

by Henri E. Cauvin

09 Jul 03

A federal appeals court yesterday rejected Vice President Cheney's bid to keep secret all the workings of his energy task force, saying sufficient safeguards were already in place to prevent the disclosure of genuinely privileged information.

The 2 to 1 ruling, by a panel of judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, does not in itself order the release of specific information, but it affirms a lower court judge's order seeking documents that would shed light on the membership of the group Cheney assembled more than two years ago to help develop U.S. energy policy. [Washington Post]

New Lords of Africa

Wed, 09 Jul 2003 14:05:21 GMT

by Saskia Sassen

09 Jul 03

Warlords. They have a bad name but not all they do is bad. Their basic premise is that a good gun is better than a good law. Then there is the horsetrading: you give me oil, I will get you aid for Aids treatment; horsetrading can work when bureaucrats fail. Some warlords are grubby, others are imperial: as in Liberia, the warlord can descend from the heavens and declare it's time for the old order to go. Then there is the domestic warlord: the cowboy or the caudillo, always riding something - a horse, a tank - to an unknown destination.

Although warlordism is not new, it has had to adjust to new settings, like international treaties and whatnot. And it has had to become far more complex and indirect in its horsetrading. Bush is becoming a warlord who can handle it all. Two cases come to mind. One is the current visit to Africa, where Bush wants access to oil and the installation of U.S. military bases and troops to make the region secure against terrorism. The second is the Bush administration's handling of the World Trade Organisation Doha declaration giving poor countries the right to override pharmaceutical patents in public health emergencies. [Guardian/UK]

Huge Rally in Hong Kong Against Anti-subversion Laws

Tue, 08 Jul 2003 14:50:38 GMT

by John Chan

08 Jul 03

Up to half a million people marched in Hong Kong on July 1 - the sixth anniversary of Britain’s handover to China - to protest against new 'anti-subversion' legislation being enacted by the Beijing-installed administration of Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa. The National Security Bill, legislated under Article 23 of Hong Kong’s Basic Law, would effectively extend China’s police-state methods into the former British colony.

The rally was the largest since one million people took to the streets of Hong Kong on June 4, 1989, to protest against the Stalinist regime’s massacre of workers and youth in Tiananmen Square. Most of the marchers were dressed in black T-shirts to symbolise the death of democratic rights in Hong Kong. They marched through the city from Victoria Park to the downtown government buildings, bringing the city’s public transportation system to a temporarily standstill. [World Socialist Web Site]

Highlights of the Supreme Court's 2002-2003 Term

Tue, 08 Jul 2003 00:44:22 GMT

by Thomas R. Bruce and Peter W. Martin

01 Jul 03

The Legal Information Institute (LII) editorial team has created a set of pages summarizing and furnishing rich background on the important decisions of the past U.S. Supreme Court's term. They provide access to briefs, oral argument, commentary, decisions of the lower courts, and more on twenty-four key opinions. [Legal Information Institute]

Report Criticizes Federal Oversight of State Medicaid

Mon, 07 Jul 2003 14:36:48 GMT

by Robert Pear

07 Jul 03

The Bush administration has allowed states to make vast changes in Medicaid but has not held them accountable for the quality of care they provide to poor elderly and disabled people, Congressional investigators said today.

The administration often boasts that it has approved record numbers of Medicaid waivers, which exempt states from some federal regulations and give them broad discretion to decide who gets what services.

But the investigators, from the General Accounting Office, said the secretary of health and human services, Tommy G. Thompson, had 'not fully complied with the statutory and regulatory requirements' to monitor the quality of care under such waivers. [The New York Times]

Look Up Under 'Library Nanny'

Sun, 06 Jul 2003 16:22:56 GMT

by J.R. Labbe

29 Jun 03

The highest court in the land decided last week that libraries can lose government funding if they don't make it harder for patrons to view constitutionally protected material.

Say what?

The Supremes ruled that the federal government -- translation: Congress -- can withhold money from libraries that choose not to install porn blocking computer programs. Attorneys for the libraries had argued -- rightfully -- that the law will turn their clients into censors. They lost anyway. The First Amendment be damned.

Only the naive would think that government hasn't been in the business of social engineering for a long, long time. One look at the tax code reveals that Congress thinks selected behaviors are good for society, so citizens are rewarded for participating in them. Home ownership. Tithing. Not growing certain crops. Growing children.

It also is clear that government has attempted to manipulate behavior by withholding funds from legal activities that it deems unseemly. Must we revisit the issue of National Endowment for the Arts funding and the Robert Mapplethorpe exhibit?

Grown people should not have to explain their reading interests to anyone, not even librarians. That much, the high court did recognize. Last week's decision instructs libraries that do install the software to be prepared to disable it 'without significant delay' upon the request of an adult user.

Unfortunately, adult users still have to go to a librarian to ask for access to the entire World Wide Web. How embarrassing.

Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said the Constitution 'does not guarantee the right to acquire information at a public library without any risk of embarrassment.'

Can't that logic be turned around? Is there a right that guarantees you'll never be offended by anything you read or see in a public library? Methinks not. Congress and a majority of Supremes, however, think otherwise. [Star-Telegram]

U.S. Retaliates Over War Crime Immunity Demand

Sat, 05 Jul 2003 19:18:26 GMT

by Bill Vann

05 July 03

In a further bid to place U.S. officials and military personnel beyond the reach of war crimes prosecution, the Bush administration cut off military aid to about 35 countries that failed to meet a June 30 deadline for signing bilateral immunity agreements.

Washington had demanded such deals with all the countries that have signed on to the International Criminal Court (ICC), using the threat of the aid cutoff to impose its will on foreign powers that are considered U.S. allies. At least 90 have reportedly resisted the U.S. blackmail effort. The Bush administration claims that 51 nations have signed immunity agreements, seven of them 'secretly.' [World Socialist Web Site]

130 U.S. Communities Saying No to Repression

Sat, 05 Jul 2003 19:02:19 GMT

by Jim Lobe

05 Jul 03

WASHINGTON. More than 130 communities with a combined population of more than 16 million people in 26 states have passed resolutions directing local police to refrain from using racial profiling, enforcing immigration laws, or participating in federal investigations that violate civil liberties, according to a new report released on the eve of this year's Fourth of July celebrations by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

The 23-page report credits Ann Arbor, Michigan, with adopting the first resolution opposing key provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, thus setting off a trend that shows no sign of abating. [Common Dreams NewsCenter]

Hunt Activists to Hound Ministers

Sat, 05 Jul 2003 01:48:10 GMT

by Stuart Millar

05 Jul 03

Hunt supporters are planning a campaign of public harassment of government ministers whenever they make an appearance anywhere in the country, as part of a desperate rearguard action to head off a total ban on hunting.

Amid a growing clamour among furious grassroots hunt supporters for more militant direct action, the Guardian has learned that the Countryside Alliance is setting up a full-time unit with the task of organising the 'hounding of ministers'.

The unit will have responsibility for obtaining information on the whereabouts of government figures and deploying instant protests. Using teams of activists across the country, the unit will aim to organise demonstrations with as little as 10 minutes notice.

The main target will be Alun Michael, the rural affairs minister, whose carefully crafted compromise allowing licensed hunts was scuppered on Monday night when more than 300 Labour MPs, including seven Cabinet members, ignored Downing Street to vote in favour of an outright ban. Also in their sights is Elliot Morley, who voted with the rebels despite being number two in the environment department, which is piloting the bill. [The Guardian/UK]

French Court Frees Iranian Group Leader

Thu, 03 Jul 2003 08:50:39 GMT

by Pierre-Antoine Souchard

03 Jul 03

PARIS. A French court on Wednesday ordered the release of nine people arrested during a recent broad anti-terrorism sweep, including the leader of an exile group seeking to topple Iran's ultra-religious government, judicial officials said.

But the Paris appeals court said Maryam Rajavi, a leader of the group Mujahedeen Khalq, and one other defendant must first pay bail. Rajavi was ordered to pay about $93,000 and likely will not be released before Thursday, the officials said...

France's counterintelligence agency, the DST, claims the Mujahedeen was planning attacks on Iranian diplomatic missions in Europe and assassinations of Iranian secret agents in Europe. It also claims the group was planning to make its headquarters a nerve center for terrorism after losing its firepower in Iraq, where it mounted attacks on neighboring Iran. [Associated Press]