Speedy Trial Case: The Washington Post opines on Vermont v. Brillon, argued yesterday. "The Vermont Supreme Court threw out Mr. Brillon's conviction and barred prosecutors from retrying him after concluding that Mr. Brillon's right to a speedy trial had been violated -- even though the delays were the fault of Mr. Brillon or his lawyers. The court concluded, in part, that because the public defenders were paid with state money, the state must be held responsible. The Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case yesterday, should overrule the decision." Is it our imagination, or has there been a statistically significant increase in sense on the WaPo's editorial page recently?

Released Gitmo Inmates Rejoin the Fight:  The Pentagon reports that 61 of the detainees released from Guantanamo Bay are either confirmed or suspected to have resumed committing terrorist acts according to this Reuters story by David Morgan.  The Pentagon said it has confirmed that 18 former detainees are directly involved in terrorism and that intelligence has determined that 43 are likely to have resumed involvement. The ACLU called the report "another fearmongering campaign to justify the indefinite detention of detainees."

Oakland Officer Arrested for New Year's Transit Shooting:  In a widely distributed video, a transit officer in Oakland, California is shown shooting a prone suspect in the back during the investigation of a New Years Eve fight. The officer has now been arrested for murder as reported by SF Chronicle writers Demain Bulwa, Henry K. Lee and Leslie Fulbright. Johannes Mehserle was arrested yesterday in Nevada after several days of protests over what Oakland community and civil rights leaders call another example of excessive force against blacks. 

FBI Taps Local Police:  AP writer Devlin Barrett reports that the FBI is now sharing tips about possible terrorist threats with local police in an effort to identify patterns of activity in multiple locations.  The bureau notes that it receives 1,000 tips per day but that only about a dozen merit distribution to other police agencies.  A spokesman said that sending a report on an incident in one location to police in far flung jurisdictions might uncover reports of similar activity, such as multiple thefts of military uniforms or equipment.

Feds DNA Testing Suspected Illegals: In an effort to identify illegal immigrants who commit crimes in the US, the Department of Justice is implementing a policy of taking DNA samples from suspected illegals detained by federal officers.  A story by Jeremy Roebuck in the Brownsville Herald reports that the testing was authorized by Congress in 2005.  It is being implemented this year because of an increase in crimes committed by illegals.  Last year, federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against over 25,000 illegals in the judicial district stretching from Houston to the Rio Grand Valley.  As with fingerprints, inclusion in the federal DNA data base does not implicate anyone as a criminal.  It does give law enforcement a tool to identify those who may have been involved in a crime and exclude those who are not.  In spite of this, immigration rights groups are opposed, claiming that the testing paints illegals "with the same brush as violent felons."