A Lawyers Day in Court
Nov. 30th, 2006 03:29 amI have a comic taped to my computer. It's by a woman who went to my high school, in fact, she was my sister's friend. It's Sylvia.
In this particular strip, The Woman who Lies in her Personal Journal is saying, " I called the Attorney General, disguising my voice so I sound like I'm infallible...Don't ask how I do it...it's a gift. "John," I said, "It's okay with me if you want to put every lawyer in jail for two weeks, but that guy in Oregon...you know, the one whose fingerprints you insisted matched the ones found at the site of the Madrid bombing even though the Spanish authorities said they were not a match? John, I have one question...Don't you ever watch 'C.S.I.?"
Well, Sylvia, the U.S. government just agreed to settle with Brandon Mayfield for $2 million and an apology. They have also agreed to destroy all evidence they obtained during electronic surveillance and clandestine searches of his home and his office done under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act. He is free to continue his suit challenging the Patriot Act.
Quoting the Washington Post:
"A report released in March by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that although Mayfield's religion was not a factor in his initial identification, it contributed to the FBI's reluctance to reexamine its conclusions after challenges from Spanish police.
Fine also found that the FBI used expanded powers under the Patriot Act to demand personal information about Mayfield from banks and other companies, and that the law 'amplified the consequences' of the FBI's mistakes by allowing other government agencies to share flawed information."
"Mayfield said in a statement yesterday that he was threatened with the death penalty while in custody, that he and his family were targeted 'because of our Muslim religion,' and that he looks forward 'to the day when the Patriot Act is declared unconstitutional.'
'The power of the government to secretly search your home or business without probable cause, under the guise of an alleged terrorist investigation, must be stopped,' Mayfield said.
Hmm. Guess I'll have to find a new comic...
In this particular strip, The Woman who Lies in her Personal Journal is saying, " I called the Attorney General, disguising my voice so I sound like I'm infallible...Don't ask how I do it...it's a gift. "John," I said, "It's okay with me if you want to put every lawyer in jail for two weeks, but that guy in Oregon...you know, the one whose fingerprints you insisted matched the ones found at the site of the Madrid bombing even though the Spanish authorities said they were not a match? John, I have one question...Don't you ever watch 'C.S.I.?"
Well, Sylvia, the U.S. government just agreed to settle with Brandon Mayfield for $2 million and an apology. They have also agreed to destroy all evidence they obtained during electronic surveillance and clandestine searches of his home and his office done under the expanded powers of the USA PATRIOT Act. He is free to continue his suit challenging the Patriot Act.
Quoting the Washington Post:
"A report released in March by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that although Mayfield's religion was not a factor in his initial identification, it contributed to the FBI's reluctance to reexamine its conclusions after challenges from Spanish police.
Fine also found that the FBI used expanded powers under the Patriot Act to demand personal information about Mayfield from banks and other companies, and that the law 'amplified the consequences' of the FBI's mistakes by allowing other government agencies to share flawed information."
"Mayfield said in a statement yesterday that he was threatened with the death penalty while in custody, that he and his family were targeted 'because of our Muslim religion,' and that he looks forward 'to the day when the Patriot Act is declared unconstitutional.'
'The power of the government to secretly search your home or business without probable cause, under the guise of an alleged terrorist investigation, must be stopped,' Mayfield said.
Hmm. Guess I'll have to find a new comic...