More Power to SCOTUS, according to AEI visiting scholar John Yoo. Discussing the winners and losers in Court's recent term in today's Philadelphia Inquirer he writes "....the biggest winner by far was the court itself. Slowly but surely, the justices have expanded their power to make many of our society's fundamental political and moral decisions. He pays attention to the pivotal role that "the wandering justice Anthony Kennedy" had, leading the liberals in Boumediene, and siding with conservatives in District of Columbia v. Heller.

Hamdan: The partial guilty verdict and short sentence the military panel gave to Osama bin Laden's driver, Salim Hamdan, last week was not an indictment of the military's trial process accroding to Jess Bravin's WSJ piece today. While an editorial in the SF Chronicle characterized the Hamdan's verdict and short sentence as evidence of "a flawed process", a juror who seemed amused by such a suggestion told the Journal reporter, "People probably are trying to read too much into it."

L.A. Homeless Health Scam: "A federal indictment accuses [Estill] Mitts of receiving as much as $20,000 a month to deliver homeless people for unnecessary medical procedures to City of Angels Medical Center, Los Angeles Metropolitan Medical Center or Tustin Hospital and Medical Center," reports Shaya Tayefe Mohajer for AP.

Chapel Hill Capital Case: "Prosecutors said Monday they plan to seek the death penalty against a man charged in the kidnapping and fatal shooting of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student body president Eve Carson... even though jurors in Orange County haven't returned a death sentence since North Carolina resumed executions in 1984," Marlon Walker reports for AP.

Civil Commitment Expense: AP has this story on the expense of hiring psychologists and psychiatrists for evaluation of sex offenders for post-prison civil commitment.

Mens Rea: What punishment is appropriate for a person who causes great harm without intent but recklessly, even to the point of disregarding specific warnings? Demian Bulwa has this story in the SF Chron on Matt Rupp, who served two years in prison for starting a major fire by using a riding mower on dry grass, telling a person who warned him to "Go to hell."

Next time, dress the part: "Police are looking for a man who told clerks at a local adult novelty shop that he is a police detective and then demanded that they provide him with pornographic videos so he could check the ages of the actors and actresses in them. The clerks turned away the ponytailed police impersonator last month, said Longmont Cmdr. Tim Lewis," reports Pierrette Shields for the Longworth (CO) Times-Call.