Monday, November 30, 2009
Negligent Clemency
Such a new tort would allow clemency to continue. But, it would compensate the future victims of the carelessness of the politicians.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
When the Left PC Crowd Runs the Government. the Murder Rate Soars
"It's all Scandinavian talk in an Iraqi reality. Rio is completely schizophrenic. Everybody's very PC – all this violence is seen as coming from some injustice. At the same time, they'd like the favelas to be atomised, à la Buck Rogers, with a Disintegrator."
This is coming to the US.
This is coming to the US.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Lawyer Slams Psychologists for Participation in Interrogation
This is a biased hate speech piece, and not journalism. These psychologist deserve the gratitude of the nation for the information obtained that prevented attacks. The lawyer should be considered a collaborator with the enemy.
"Psychologists participated in every stage of the program’s development and implementation.2 First, they assisted in providing its legal justification. The United Nations Convention against Torture and corresponding federal statutes define torture as “an act intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering.”3,4 Severe mental pain or suffering is “the prolonged mental harm” caused by the “infliction or the threat of infliction of severe physical pain or suffering.” Psychologists sanctioned all utilized techniques. For example, the report observes that the CIA “informed us that your on-site psychologists, who have extensive experience with the use of waterboard in Navy training, have not encountered any significant long-term mental health consequences from its use.”
Second, those same psychologists sculpted the program’s basic structure. Initially, the CIA retained independent contractor and Air Force psychologist James Mitchell to “research and write a paper on al-Qaeda’s resistance to interrogation techniques.” Then, Mitchell paired with a Department of Defense psychologist and “developed a list of new and more aggressive EITs.”
Third, psychologists crafted individual intake evaluations that assessed mental status and forecast successful techniques. Consider, for example, the psychological profile of al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah. The profile observed that his strengths included “ability to focus, goal-directed discipline, intelligence, [and] emotional resilience.” The report predicted interrogation success because Zubaydah “believes [that] the ultimate destiny of Islam is to dominate this world. . . . Thus, there is the chance that he could rationalize that providing information will harm current efforts but represent only a temporary setback.”
Finally, psychologists attended and supervised interrogation sessions. Consider, again, the case of Zubaydah. Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Ali Soufan, who, according to Newsweek, “had a reputation as a shrewd interrogator who could work fluently in both English and Arabic,” conducted the initial interrogation in Guantánamo Bay. Although Soufan’s interrogation was productive, producing information that led to the arrest of Richard Reid, the would-be “shoe bomber,” the CIA brought in Mitchell. Mitchell ratcheted up the interrogation by stripping Zubaydah and barraging him with loud, rock music. When a coffin, apparently for a mock burial, arrived and Soufan objected, the CIA terminated his employment.5"
"Psychologists participated in every stage of the program’s development and implementation.2 First, they assisted in providing its legal justification. The United Nations Convention against Torture and corresponding federal statutes define torture as “an act intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering.”3,4 Severe mental pain or suffering is “the prolonged mental harm” caused by the “infliction or the threat of infliction of severe physical pain or suffering.” Psychologists sanctioned all utilized techniques. For example, the report observes that the CIA “informed us that your on-site psychologists, who have extensive experience with the use of waterboard in Navy training, have not encountered any significant long-term mental health consequences from its use.”
Second, those same psychologists sculpted the program’s basic structure. Initially, the CIA retained independent contractor and Air Force psychologist James Mitchell to “research and write a paper on al-Qaeda’s resistance to interrogation techniques.” Then, Mitchell paired with a Department of Defense psychologist and “developed a list of new and more aggressive EITs.”
Third, psychologists crafted individual intake evaluations that assessed mental status and forecast successful techniques. Consider, for example, the psychological profile of al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah. The profile observed that his strengths included “ability to focus, goal-directed discipline, intelligence, [and] emotional resilience.” The report predicted interrogation success because Zubaydah “believes [that] the ultimate destiny of Islam is to dominate this world. . . . Thus, there is the chance that he could rationalize that providing information will harm current efforts but represent only a temporary setback.”
Finally, psychologists attended and supervised interrogation sessions. Consider, again, the case of Zubaydah. Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Ali Soufan, who, according to Newsweek, “had a reputation as a shrewd interrogator who could work fluently in both English and Arabic,” conducted the initial interrogation in Guantánamo Bay. Although Soufan’s interrogation was productive, producing information that led to the arrest of Richard Reid, the would-be “shoe bomber,” the CIA brought in Mitchell. Mitchell ratcheted up the interrogation by stripping Zubaydah and barraging him with loud, rock music. When a coffin, apparently for a mock burial, arrived and Soufan objected, the CIA terminated his employment.5"
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Hire a Lawyer, Avoid the Death Penalty
This shows the death penalty of today does not have a criminal justice aim. It has a lawyer rent seeking aim.
"Death penalty opponents charge that wealthy defendants who can hire legal counsel are exempt from capital punishment, but that indigent defendants who receive court-appointed counsel are frequently condemned to death. The critique is based on sensational stories, but anecdotes cannot establish a causal relationship. To explore the issue systematically, the current research examines the impact of legal counsel on the District Attorney’s decisions to seek the death penalty and juries’ decisions to impose death sentences against adult defendants indicted for capital murder in Harris County (Houston), Texas from 1992 to 1999 (n=504). Harris County is the largest jurisdiction in the nation to use the appointment method rather than the public defender method to deliver indigent capital defense, though by no means the only such jurisdiction. The empirical comparison of hired counsel to appointed counsel in Harris County reveals three central findings: (1) Defendants who hired counsel for the entire case were never sentenced to death; (2) Defendants who hired counsel for a portion of the case were substantially less likely to be sentenced to death; (3) Hiring counsel is not the province of the wealthy, as almost all of the capital murder defendants in this study were poor. Though not the focus of the research and a finding that must be considered tentative, the data also reveal that defendants who hired counsel for the entire case were much more likely to be acquitted. To be clear, the findings are not an indictment of appointed attorneys, but rather an indictment of the structural deficiencies inherent in the appointment method. The research concludes with a call for Harris County—the capital of capital punishment—to establish a Public Defender Office with a specific Capital Defender Office. Though not a panacea, the public defender method comes much closer to the adversarial ideal of evenly matched partisans doing battle to produce justice."
"Death penalty opponents charge that wealthy defendants who can hire legal counsel are exempt from capital punishment, but that indigent defendants who receive court-appointed counsel are frequently condemned to death. The critique is based on sensational stories, but anecdotes cannot establish a causal relationship. To explore the issue systematically, the current research examines the impact of legal counsel on the District Attorney’s decisions to seek the death penalty and juries’ decisions to impose death sentences against adult defendants indicted for capital murder in Harris County (Houston), Texas from 1992 to 1999 (n=504). Harris County is the largest jurisdiction in the nation to use the appointment method rather than the public defender method to deliver indigent capital defense, though by no means the only such jurisdiction. The empirical comparison of hired counsel to appointed counsel in Harris County reveals three central findings: (1) Defendants who hired counsel for the entire case were never sentenced to death; (2) Defendants who hired counsel for a portion of the case were substantially less likely to be sentenced to death; (3) Hiring counsel is not the province of the wealthy, as almost all of the capital murder defendants in this study were poor. Though not the focus of the research and a finding that must be considered tentative, the data also reveal that defendants who hired counsel for the entire case were much more likely to be acquitted. To be clear, the findings are not an indictment of appointed attorneys, but rather an indictment of the structural deficiencies inherent in the appointment method. The research concludes with a call for Harris County—the capital of capital punishment—to establish a Public Defender Office with a specific Capital Defender Office. Though not a panacea, the public defender method comes much closer to the adversarial ideal of evenly matched partisans doing battle to produce justice."
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Hand Wringing Over Totally Painless Executions in Ohio
Senator, If you can use a stamp, you can carry out an execution. This method is endorsed by a bunch of tort lawyers.
http://www.hsinjurylaw.com/library/dangerousdefective-drugsfentanyl-patchconnected-with-deaths-overdoses.cfm
Peel and apply 10 Duragesic (fentanyl) patches anywhere on the body. The latter may be tied down, squirming, and uncooperative. Does not matter. Just stick the patches on. Make it 20 patches. The prisoner may enjoy an opiate high on the way out.
Add 20 clonidine patches in between to enhance the Duragesic patches.
No hand wringing for these victims in the walls of the house of a registered sex offender. These registries are worthless lawyer paper shuffling. These worthless lawyer remedies register and ruin a 10 year old kid pissing on a wall. They fail to slow down a serial killer. This failure mirrors that of the criminal law, with a high false negative and a high false positive, jailing many innocent defendants, and allowing the overwhelming majority of predators to escape punishment and to continue to victimize the public. Escaped victim explains the Sowell method. Punch the lady in the face and drag her into the house.
http://www.hsinjurylaw.com/library/dangerousdefective-drugsfentanyl-patchconnected-with-deaths-overdoses.cfm
Peel and apply 10 Duragesic (fentanyl) patches anywhere on the body. The latter may be tied down, squirming, and uncooperative. Does not matter. Just stick the patches on. Make it 20 patches. The prisoner may enjoy an opiate high on the way out.
Add 20 clonidine patches in between to enhance the Duragesic patches.
No hand wringing for these victims in the walls of the house of a registered sex offender. These registries are worthless lawyer paper shuffling. These worthless lawyer remedies register and ruin a 10 year old kid pissing on a wall. They fail to slow down a serial killer. This failure mirrors that of the criminal law, with a high false negative and a high false positive, jailing many innocent defendants, and allowing the overwhelming majority of predators to escape punishment and to continue to victimize the public. Escaped victim explains the Sowell method. Punch the lady in the face and drag her into the house.
Monday, November 2, 2009
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