The National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Department of Justice, has just released Technical Working Group for Eyewitness Evidence: Training Teams, a Trainer's Manual for Law Enforcement. This manual is the followup to the the 1999 NIJ Research Report, Eyewitness Evidence: A Guide for Law Enforcement. Both are available free to download.

It has been known for several years that faulty eyewitness evidence is the major cause of wrongful convictions. In most cases, the eyewitnesses are mistaken, not lying. Faulty eyewitness identification procedures used by police have been a large part of the problem. The procedures in these guides, if used by law enforcement, will go a long way towards reducing such errors.

We are proud to have been a member of the panel that produced the 1999 Guide and look forward to seeing its prinicples put into action in police departments around the country, through the new Training Manual.

We'd also like to see police departments go further and adopt sequential lineups and double-blind testing procedures, which are mentioned in the 1999 manual but not given the same endorsement as the other procedures.

In case you're wondering how Ashcroft and the DEA intend to prove that the pipe you sell is for marijuana use and not tobacco, defense lawyer Nicholas Hentoff has this report:

They have agents who will testify that any smoking device with a "one hit" or very shallow bowl depth constitutes paraphernalia since this design is inconsistent with Tobacco use. The presence of a carburetor also constitutes proof of paraphernalia since no one uses a carburetor to blast tobacco smoke into their lungs.

They also will call a tobacco shop owner as an expert on these points as well as tobacco trade show operators who will testify that they exclude smoking devices from their trade shows based on bowl depth and presence of carbs. Rolling papers with wires in them also constitute paraphernalia per DEA experts.

Just in from AntiPolygraph.Org:

New Mexico is the only state in the United States where polygraph evidence has been routinely admitted in criminal cases. The New Mexico Supreme Court recently directed District Judge Richard J. Knowles to enter findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding polygraph testing. His report, (New Mexico Supreme Court No. 27,915) may be downloaded here.

After reviewing a large body of documentary evidence and hearing testimony from experts, Judge Knowles concluded that "[t]he results of polygraph testing are not sufficiently reliable for admissibility in courts in New Mexico."

We just got a hold of a copy of Attorney General John Ashcroft's Memo to Proseuctors on "Department Policy Concerning Charging Criminal Offenses, Disposition of Charges, and Sentencing. We've put it up on CrimeLynx, for all to read. You can find it here.

The text of Ashcroft's "Department Principles for
Implementing an Expedited Disposition or “Fast- Track” Prosecution Program in a District" is here.

Update: In case you don't have time to read the whole thing, or don't want to deal with the legalese, here are the AP's description of the exceptions to the no-plea bargain policy:

Bump and Update: Ashcroft's memo went out today to all 94 U.S. Attorneys Offices today as we reported last night it would. See the original post below:

**********
First update, 9/22
Update: The Wall Street Journal is carrying this article about Ashcroft's new memo to federal prosecutors:

WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft, in a move that would further centralize prosecutorial power to Justice Department headquarters, is considering an order to U.S. attorneys to cut back significantly on plea bargaining with criminal defendants. The order, which could be issued as early as today, would require federal prosecutors to "charge and pursue the facts" of the cases they file, and notes that charges shouldn't be filed simply to exert leverage to induce a plea.

The development represents the latest in a series of recent policy changes that Justice Department officials say will bring more consistency to departmental decision making, but which effectively have shifted responsibility to headquarters or placed it in the hands of fewer prosecutors. Mr. Ashcroft has overridden several prosecutors on seeking the death penalty in federal capital cases. In July, he ordered prosecutors to begin appealing all cases in which judges handed down sentences against the wishes of prosecutors when they are more lenient than federal guidelines support.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer denounced mandatory minimum sentences yesterday during a talk in Boston.

Mandatory minimum sentences passed by Congress are "bad policy" because they are unfair in some cases, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Sunday. Breyer, who was a member of the U.S. Sentencing Commission in the 1980s, said there must be flexibility in sentencing to make room for exceptional cases.

In a speech to about 550 people at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum, Breyer said Congress had passed statutes with "no room for flexibility on the downside." "That is not a helpful thing to do," he said. "It's not going to advance the cause of law enforcement in my opinion, and it's going to set back the cause of fairness in sentencing."

Justice Kennedy criticized mandatory minimums at the ABA meeting in August. Breyer says Chief Justice Rehnquist "and others" shares his view.

Check out this MEMO To MADD's New Celebrity Board from the Center for Consumer Freedom.

And this banner which MADD has the audacity to sell for $195.00--it compares beer to heroin by depicting a beer bottle as if it were a syringe.

If these allegations are true, every resident of Chicago ought to be very afraid.

The Chicago Police Department has a policy of locking up and interrogating witnesses who are not charged or suspected of any criminal wrongdoing, according to a lawsuit filed today in federal court by the MacArthur Justice Center, the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic and First Defense Legal Aid. The suit was filed on behalf of three individuals who were locked in a police interrogation room for questioning for as long as two full days.

In each of the three incidents, the witnesses say they were locked in a small, windowless interrogation room furnished only with a metal bunk and lacking a toilet or running water. The police refused their requests to leave. The police denied McFall's repeated requests to call her mother; Treadwell faced abusive questioning during the approximately 24 hours he was held.

First comes Joe Biden's 2002 Rave Act. It's defeated. He gives it a fancy new name, the Illicit Anti-Drug Proliferation Act, and through a stealth attack, inserts it into the Amber Alert bill. It passes in April, 2003. Critics are charging the law amounts to musical profiling.

Although he reworked, renamed and reintroduced the legislation this year, its intent remained basically the same. He removed the mention of glow sticks, water bottles and other accouterments in the law that passed, but in arguing for the measure on the Senate floor, he again termed the items telltale signs of drug use. This time the legislation passed, incorporated into the Controlled Substance Act.

Passed in April, the law makes it possible for a promoter or building owner to be charged with a felony if anyone at an event uses or sells drugs. Politicians and federal law enforcers say it's the kind of hard-line approach needed to keep young people away from drugs.

Critics are organizing and protesting.

....The law has spurred electronic music devotees to get organized. A group called Ravers Against Opposition to Raves (ROAR) spearheaded a Sept. 6 protest on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. It attracted more than 2,000, including celebrity DJ Junior Vasquez. “We’re being vilified by people who don’t understand electronic music,” said Legba Carrefour, director of ROAR.

The law is being enforced around the country.

The law has gotten ample use .... Its first application on May 31 chilled the nightlife in Billings, Mont. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) had organized a fundraiser at a Billings Eagles Lodge. Before rock bands kicked off the event, a DEA agent presented the bar owner with a copy of the law and informed him that he could be fined $250,000 and face jail if anyone on the premises was caught with so much as a joint. The event was canceled and promoters lost money.

Busts have occurred in Missouri, Louisiana, Wisconsin and North Florida. Those raids unleashed a string of legal counterattacks by the American Civil Liberties Union.

We've been opposed to this bill since its inception. You can access all of our coverage here.

Voters in Seattle today approved a measure strongly opposed by Drug Czar John Walters. It directs police and prosecutors to make marijuana arrests and prosecutions their lowest priority. Walters personally campaigned against the measure in Seattle on September 10.

The morality police are out in full force in L.A. The Los Angeles City Council has banned lap dancing at strip clubs.

The City Council has voted to ban lap dances and all other physical contact between entertainers and customers at strip clubs, bikini bars and adult bookstores. A "no-touch" rule would require dancers to remain at least six feet from customers even when dancers are tipped. The council also voted Tuesday to outlaw "VIP rooms," where nude dancers perform privately.

....Supporters of the law argued that strip clubs contribute to prostitution, drug use and violence.

At least one attorney, Roger Diamond, is challenging the law. Many dancers are opposed to the law because it threatens their liveihoods.

Here's some interesting news. The Office of National Drug Control Policy held a press conference in Washington today to announce that an estimated 11 million Americans have driven while under the influence of illegal drugs. This includes one out of every five 21 year olds.

John Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, said the statistics show a failure to convince drivers that drugs impair driving as much as alcohol does. His office is kicking off an ad campaign to warn teens about driving while smoking marijuana.

"Marijuana is not the soft drug. Marijuana is not the casual rite of passage," Walters said at a news conference. "We have been sending the wrong message." Walters said marijuana can affect concentration, perception, coordination and reaction time for up to 24 hours after smoking it.

Well, lets take a look at the other side, as presented by Keith Stroup, Executive Director of NORML, who attended a portion of the press conference, at the invitation of an NBC reporter. Reportedly, he soon was ordered to leave by ONDCP officials. Anyway, here's Keith's report: