THE OTHER SHOE DROPS: Updates To Previous Posts
† Though Ham-Handed, Hamdan Ruling Changes Nothing: The Los Angeles Times reports that the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling granting Gitmo detainees habeas corpus won’t immediately throw the cell doors open for the 270 prisoners:
Today's ruling, like the earlier decisions, may prove to be both an important victory on a legal principle, but one whose practical impact may be quite limited. The justices did not spell out what rights the detainees had, or how federal judges should proceed on how to handle their claims. "It bears repeating that our opinion does not address the content of the law that governs [their] detention," Kennedy said. "That is a matter yet to be determined."
That suggests more delay, as the two sides fight out before federal judges the rights and rules for deciding the claims raised by the detainees. The likelihood is this legal battle will extend well beyond the time when President Bush leaves the White House in January.
In October 2007, the Supreme Court declined to consider Guantánamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan’s challenge of the legality of the military tribunal that was to try him for conspiracy and supporting terrorism. In light of the high court's ruling, Hamden’s military lawyer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Mizer, plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges against him
† A To Z Approach On Illegal Immigration In AZ: Anti-illegal immigration hard-liners Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and Attorney Andrew Thomas announced raids at water parks in Mesa, Phoenix and Tempe that found forged documented aliens among the employees, reports the East Valley Tribune:
Records were seized from the Big Surf water park in Tempe at the same time similar amusement parks in Mesa and Phoenix were raided by investigators on Tuesday, said Maricopa County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Paul Chagolla.
All told in the raids, nine people were arrested on suspicion of fraud and being in the country illegally, and another man was arrested on a lone immigration violation.
About 400 employment records were also seized or searched to find out if Mesa-based Golfland Entertainment Centers, which owns all three parks, has been knowingly hiring illegal immigrants.
As many as 104 employees could be implicated in the fraud case, officials said.
Under the Legal Arizona Workers Act, which took effect in January, a company’s business operations can be suspended if it hires illegal immigrants, and repeat offenders can be shuttered by state authorities.
† The Other Shoe Drops ("Après Spitzer,"second item): In the wake of the call girl scandal involving former Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D-NY) and charges that he was using state troopers in to spy on political rivals, an internal audit commissioned by the state police superintendent, Harry J. Corbitt has recommended several procedural changes that affect how troopers get assigned to the governor’s security detail, reports The New York Times:
The overhaul follows a year of scandal and tragedy for the unit, known as the executive services detail, an elite team that has close access to the governor and has come under intense scrutiny recently. …
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo continues to investigate allegations that troopers may have been used to gather damaging information about elected officials. Mr. Cuomo’s inquiry is closely examining the conduct of the executive detail and a former commander, Daniel Wiese.
The most significant change will end a practice in which governors personally selected the commander of the detail, a coveted assignment within state police ranks and a position sometimes viewed as more powerful than that of the state police superintendent. Instead, the head of the detail, who usually carries the rank of major, will be selected by the superintendent from among the agency’s senior officers and will be required to have supervisory experience, among other qualifications.
Cuomo’s investigation has not turned up evidence of a “rogue unit” that was acting as a political hit squad at the former governor’s behest.
† Multiculturalism Vs. Animal Rights (second item): The New York Times reports that “in the Central Valley of California, and in Winnemucca, Nev., and Joliet, Ill., a growing number of middle-class Mexican-Americans spend lazy summer afternoons at the charreada - part rodeo, part fiesta and one of Mexico’s most revered sporting events, dating to the 17th century.” At the charreada amateur charros (riders) perform such feats as the paso de la muerte (“pass of death”) - jumping from the bare back of a galloping horse onto a wild mare – as well as steer tailing, in which a charro “wraps [a steer’s tail] beneath his stirrup and flips the animal to the ground.” NE has passed a law banning steer tailing, and eight states have banned another event, “horse tripping, a centuries-old tradition that involves roping and snaring the front legs of a running mare and that can cause serious injury.” Charreada fans complain their culture is being demonized, noting that horses can be fatally injured in such sports as thoroughbred racing. But North Carolina State University history professor Richard Slatta counters out that animal cruelty concerns led to laws outlawing steer roping at professional American rodeos.
† Doc Allegedly Steals Elderly Mother Blind: Manhattan internist Robin Motz, MD, pleaded guilty to second-degree grand larceny for stealing his 94-year-old mother's life savings of $832,453, leaving the retired librarian in penury, reports The Associated Press. He will have to serve 150 hours of community service at a clinic and make restitution of more than $540,000.
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