[PAA-Discuss] Justice Digest - October 9, 2009

[Juli3 at aol.com]

    _Justice  Watch_ (mip://06c53ea0/default.html#justice)  _AFJ in the  
News_ (mip://06c53ea0/default.html#afjnews)   _This  Week's Headlines_ 
(mip://06c53ea0/default.html#headlines)  _This  Week In  Congress_ 
(mip://06c53ea0/default.html#congress) 
Justice  Watch
We Have A Right to Know 
 (http://ga1.org/ct/ZpxoLB61JXdl/)  
 
(http://ga1.org/campaign/release_torture_memos/8w3e7igr9735d8ik?source=web_advo) 

_Watch the film  and sign the Petition!_ (http://ga1.org/ct/ZdxoLB61JXd9/)  
 
AFJ's new film, Tortured Law  Premieres 

The legal architecture for  torture was originally outlined and sanctioned 
in 2002  by a series of memos drafted by lawyers in the  Department of 
Justice's Office of Legal Counsel. Were  these lawyers simply giving the 
President their best  legal advice? Or was their work part of a larger  criminal 
conspiracy to distort the law and authorize  torture?  
Alliance for Justice's latest documentary film,  Tortured Law, premiered 
online this week.  This short film examines the role lawyers played in  
authorizing torture under the Bush Administration.  

_Read more on  our Justice Watch blog_ (http://ga1.org/ct/K7xoLB61JXd8/) . 
More Evidence Points to the Need for  Accountability 
The news broke yesterday that  the government has been hiding video tapes 
that show the  torture of detainee Mohammed al Qhatani. In his ongoing  
habeas litigation challenging his detention and  alleging torture, al Qhatani was 
entitled to receive any  exculpatory information that the government has 
relating to  his case – but for over a year the government failed to even  
admit the existence of any videotapes of his abuse. Now,  thanks to a discovery 
motion filed by his lawyers at the  Center for Constitutional Rights, the 
government admits that  the tapes exist, and the federal court has ordered 
their  release to al Qhatani’s lawyers. _Read more on our  Justice Watch blog_ 
(http://ga1.org/ct/KpxoLB61JXdi/) . 

AFJ in the  News 
Tortured Law
"A new short  film by the group Alliance for Justice looks to examine the  
role lawyers played in authorizing and legitimizing torture  under the Bush 
administration, calling for the attorney  general to investigate not just 
the CIA operatives but the  authors of torture memos in the Justice Department’
s Office  of Legal Council." _Read more in Truth  Dig_ 
(http://ga1.org/ct/C1xoLB61JXdR/) . 

This Week's  Headlines 
Senate Confirms Key Civil Rights  Post
"The Senate confirmed Thomas E. Perez  as the assistant attorney general 
for the Justice  Department’s Civil Rights Division on Tuesday. The  vote was 
72-22, with all 55 Democrats who voted  supporting the nomination. 
Republicans, meanwhile,  split almost down the middle — 22 against, 17 for. Mr.  Perez
’s nomination was voted out of the Judiciary  Committee in June, but had 
been held up by Republican  opposition." _Read more in  the New York Times_ 
(http://ga1.org/ct/Z7xoLB61JXdo/) . 
Obama nominates 2 for appeals court  seats
"Judge Denny Chin, a district court  judge for the Southern District of New 
York, and Rhode  Island Superior Court Justice O. Rogeriee Thompson  were 
tapped for positions. If confirmed by the Senate,  Chin would serve as a 
judge in the Second Circuit,  based in New York, and Thompson would serve in the 
 Boston-based First Circuit." _Read more in  the Boston  Globe_ 
(http://ga1.org/ct/V1xoLB61JXd0/) . 

The battle over  Obama's federal judges in Texas heats  up
"A list of candidates being eyed for  federal judicial vacancies in Texas 
was released  Wednesday by the state's Democratic congressional  delegation, 
which is battling with Lone Star  Republican senators over White House 
appointments to  the open posts. The list includes two candidates from  San 
Antonio, even though the White House has yet to  nominate anyone for the 
positions and the senators say  they are still reviewing potential nominees 
forwarded  to them by the administration." _Read more in  the Houston Chronicle_ 
(http://ga1.org/ct/Z1xoLB61JXdk/) . 
White House evaluates Diaz for 4th Circuit  Court 
"Mecklenburg Superior Court Judge  Albert Diaz of Charlotte appears to be 
moving toward a  White House nomination to the U.S. 4th Circuit Court  of 
Appeals, where he could become the court's first  Hispanic judge. The 
nomination, one of two possible  for North Carolina, could help break a 15-year 
impasse  that's created the longest appellate vacancy in the  country and left 
the state under-represented on the  powerful court." _Read more in  the 
Charlotte Observer_ (http://ga1.org/ct/VdxoLB61JXdp/) . 
Obama Choice for Labor Post Advances but  Then Meets a G.O.P. Roadblock
"The New  York State labor commissioner, President Obama’s  nominee to be 
the Labor Department’s top enforcement  official, won approval from a Senate 
committee  Wednesday but immediately encountered a roadblock when  the 
committee’s senior Republican said he would put a  'hold' on the nomination. Such 
action by a senator can  significantly delay a confirmation vote in the 
full  chamber, by requiring 60 votes there for the  nomination to be taken up." 
_Read more in  the New York Times_ (http://ga1.org/ct/VpxoLB61JXdQ/) . 
Working for Their Clients
"The  Legal Services Corporation was created to help provide  essential 
civil legal services to low-income  Americans. In the mid-1990s, the 
Republican-controlled  Congress imposed sweeping and unwarranted restrictions  that 
continue to hamper the work of local legal  services offices.  
"One egregious rule bars legal services providers  from representing 
clients in class-action lawsuits -  even though such suits can be an efficient way 
to  obtain relief for problems affecting a large number of  people. Another 
eliminates one deterrent to consumer  fraud against the poor by preventing 
attorneys paid by  legal services from claiming or collecting fees from  
opposing parties." _Read more in  the New York  Times_ (http://ga1.org/ct/V7xoL
B61JXdP/) . 

This Week  in Congress 
On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed Thomas E. Perez as  Assistant Attorney 
General for the Department of  Justice's Civil Rights Division by a vote  of 
72-22. 
Also on Tuesday of this week, President Obama  nominated Judge Denny Chin 
to the United States Court  of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Judge O.  
Rogeriee Thompson to the United States Court of  Appeals for the First 
Circuit.  Judge Chin, a  graduate of Princeton University and Fordham Law  School, 
currently serves on the U.S District Court for  the Southern District of 
New York.  He was the  first Asian-American appointed as a U.S. District  
Court Judge outside of the Ninth Circuit.  Judge  Thompson, a graduate of Brown 
University and Boston  University School of Law, currently serves on the  
Rhode Island Superior Court.  She was the first  African-American woman on 
that court.  
On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee  considered the nomination of 
Barbara Milano Keenan to  be United States Circuit Judge for the Fourth  
Circuit.  Senator Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) presided  over the hearing.    
 
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