Terrorism

Lawyers Participate in Artist’s Coney Island ‘Waterboard Thrill Ride’

Artist Steve Powers hopes he reached people who aren’t familiar with waterboarding at his Coney Island “Waterboard Thrill Ride.” For just $1, park-goers were able to peer through bars and see motorized mannequins convulse while water was poured on their faces, the Washington Post reports. A SpongeBob SquarePants figure painted…

Aug 18, 2008 5:52 PM CDT

Teen’s Murder Spurs Mexican Police & Legal System Reform Efforts

In a country already reeling from the effects of a brutal drug war, the abduction and murder of the 14-year-old son of a well-to-do Mexican industrialist is spurring national efforts to clean up the country’s police and courts. “Mexicans have lived for decades with police corruption and a legal system…

Aug 14, 2008 6:20 PM CDT

Mukasey Says He’ll Give FBI More Authority to Gather Intelligence

Attorney General Michael Mukasey said yesterday that he’ll loosen FBI restrictions on gathering intelligence in the United States and give the agency express authority for that mission. Mukasey told an audience in Portland, Ore., that existing rules make it “harder to gather information about threats to the national security than…

Aug 14, 2008 11:23 AM CDT

Ex-DOJ Lawyer: Politics in Ashcroft Justice Department Led to Ouster

A former senior lawyer with the Justice Department says political hiring and firing didn’t start with Alberto Gonzales, and she is Exhibit A. Writing for Legal Times, Jesselyn Radack says she was forced out of her job at the department when it was headed by John Ashcroft. It happened, she…

Aug 13, 2008 6:11 PM CDT

NYC Plans to Track All Vehicles Entering Manhattan

In an effort to combat potential terrorist attacks, the city of New York is working on a plan to track every vehicle that enters Manhattan. “It calls for photographing, and scanning the license plates of, cars and trucks at all bridges and tunnels and using sensors to detect the presence…

Aug 12, 2008 8:39 PM CDT

George Clooney Buys Film Rights to Hamdan Story

Hollywood superstar George Clooney secured movie rights to tell the story of Osama bin Laden’s personal driver Salim Hamdan, who was convicted last week of aiding terrorism and sentenced to 5½ years. If the movie gets made by Clooney’s production company, Smokehouse, it could be a controversial effort, the Los…

Aug 12, 2008 1:45 PM CDT

Hamdan Juror Says Verdict Wasn’t Intended as Message

A military officer who sat on the jury that gave the driver for Osama bin Laden a relatively light sentence says it was not intended as a message to the government. The juror told the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) that the jury gave Salim Ahmed Hamdan a five-and-a-half-year sentence…

Aug 11, 2008 11:19 AM CDT

Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Sees Parallel in Disclosure of Wiretap Program

The man who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the New York Times in 1971 is still eager to expose government secrets. Daniel Ellsberg told an ABA Annual Meeting panel today that he disclosed the 7,000-page study of the history of the Vietnam War in hopes that President Richard Nixon could…

Aug 9, 2008 5:40 PM CDT

‘Abusive’ Gitmo ‘Frequent Flyer’ Program Continued After Ban

A tactic to soften up Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects, in which they were frequently moved from cell to cell to disorient them and prevent them from sleeping, was banned in 2004, and it has been deemed “abusive” by military officials. However, the so-called “frequent flyer” program was more widely used…

Aug 8, 2008 9:03 PM CDT

Hamdan Sentenced to Only 5.5 Years By Military Tribunal, Could Get Out in 5 Months

Prosecutors sought a prison term of at least 30 years for Salim Ahmed Hamdan, the Osama bin Laden chauffeur convicted this week of some, but not all, of the terrorism support charges against him. However, a jury of six military officers sentenced him to five-and-a-half years today. With credit for…

Aug 7, 2008 7:46 PM CDT

4th Circuit Nixes Defamation Claim Against Ex-Air America Host

Onetime Air America host Randi Rhodes’ comments about a military contractor at Abu Ghraib are protected under the First Amendment, the Richmond, Va., 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week. CACI International filed suit against Rhodes and Air America in 2005 for statements she made, including accusing CACI…

Aug 7, 2008 10:30 AM CDT

Judge Approves Request to Release Anthrax Evidence

A federal judge has approved a request to release the contents of 14 search warrants issued in an investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth approved release of the sealed materials this morning, the Washington Post reports. The contents are being made…

Aug 6, 2008 4:08 PM CDT

Military Jury Convicts Bin Laden’s Driver of Supporting Terrorism

The driver for Osama bin Laden has been found guilty of supporting terrorism in a trial before a military commission at Guantanamo Bay. The military jury announced its verdict this morning against Salim Hamdan, the first detainee to face trial, the Miami Herald reports. He was acquitted of a more…

Aug 6, 2008 2:42 PM CDT

Scientist Began Drinking Heavily as FBI Used Aggressive Tactics

As the FBI closed in on government scientist Bruce Ivins, he began drinking as much as a liter of vodka in the evening and taking large doses of sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs. A friend of Ivins’ described the researcher’s turmoil in interviews with the Washington Post and the New…

Aug 6, 2008 11:18 AM CDT

Scientist Borrowed Device that Freeze-Dries Anthrax

The government scientist who committed suicide before he could be indicted in the 2001 anthrax attacks had checked out freeze-drying equipment that can convert liquid anthrax into dry spores. Bruce Ivins worked on at least one project that would have given him access to the device known as a lyopholizer,…

Aug 5, 2008 10:58 AM CDT