Is War on Terror a Crime?
According to Rivkin and Casey in the Wall Street Journal, law professors, activist lawyers, and pundits are accusing the attorneys who have advised the President on the war on terror of aiding and abetting criminal activity. Among these advisers are some of country's finest legal minds. Liberal critics are attempting to fix them with responsibility for government actions ranging from Abu Ghraib to denying habeas rights to Gitmo detainees.

Maryland’s Court redefines the concept of rape
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter reports that the Maryland Court of Appeals (the state's highest court) has redefined the definition of rape to include circumstances when one party withdraws consent after penetration. The Court's decision was announced in Baby v. Maryland, available here.

Blast Your Tunes, Lose Your Wheels
A story by OhMyGov.com reports, on an effort in Sarasota, Florida to adopt a law allowing police to impound vehicles and fine repeat violators if music can be heard from more than 25 feet. Last year police issued 282 citations for loud music from cars.

New Trial for convicted Killer The Arkansas Supreme Court has overturned a murder conviction for a Miranda violation. A story in the Baxter Bulletin reports that the Court's 6-1 ruling found that Brian Edward Robinson's incriminating statements were improperly admitted at trial because they were made after he told the arresting officer that he did not want to talk. Court's opinion is here.

New U.S. Strategy on Afghan Police. “Afghanistan will be a stable, self sufficient state only when it can both defend its borders and provide law and order to its citizens” writes Ann Marlowe in the WSJ. A new American plan aims to strengthen the Afghan National Police (ANP). Major General Robert W. Cone is the commander in charge with the mission to make the 78,000 member police force capable of maintaining local security. We don't need to make these cops as good as the 82nd Airborne," he says, referring to the storied unit that just finished a 15-month rotation here. "We just need to make them two-and-a-half times better than the enemy."

California’s New DNA Rules. Attorney General Jerry Brown is expanding the use of DNA results. The current policy requires exact matches of a suspects DNA before law enforcement is notified. The new policy will release suspect information if 15 of the 26 markers are matched, allowing the identification of relatives as possible suspects. The Attorney General announced this change today at the California District Attorneys Association annual DNA/Cold Case Summit. His press release is here.