Almost 400 undocumented workers, mostly from Guatemala, were arrested at the Agriprocessors meatpacking plant near Waterloo, Iowa on May 12. Instead of following the customary practice of deporting them, the Justice Department decided to charge a large number with fraud for falsifying social security numbers in order to be hired. The result was assembly line justice:

During fast-paced hearings in May, 262 of the illegal immigrants pleaded guilty in one week and were sentenced to prison — most for five months ....

The immigrants were threatened with heavier identity theft charges and more time if they didn't promptly accept the government's deal. An interpreter who was horrified by the proceedings is now speaking out. [more ...]

Update: Here is the DA's official letter of apology to John Ramsey.(pdf)

The Boulder County District Attorney today issued a press release officially clearing John and Patsy Ramsey and their son Burke of involvement in their daughter's death.

DNA and genetic material found in JonBenet's underwear and longjohns was subjected to a new method of testing not previously available.

The method is "touch DNA." [More...]

What happened to Ronnie White? He was booked into the Prince George's County Correctional Center in Mayland after he ran over and killed a police officer. The next day he was found dead in his jail cell. The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled today that he died from asphyxiation and strangulation. The death was ruled a homicide.

[Prince George's County Executive Jack] Johnson said that he believes the death was "unrelated to any act by the Prince George's County Police Department."

So let's count the suspects.

Officials said seven guards had access to White at the time of his death, as did an unspecified number of supervisors.

There are reasons to lack confidence in the ability of the jail administration to control its employees: [more ...]

Newspaper magnate and British Baron, Lord Conrad Black, already serving his 6 1/2 year federal prison term for fraud, lost his appeal today.

The convictions relate to millions of dollars that prosecutors said were illegally pocketed from the Hollinger International newspaper empire, since renamed Sun-Times Media. The former media baron has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and has vowed to continue to fight the convictions.

The Chicago Tribune report is here. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision is here (pdf.) It contains some interesting comments on "the ostrich instruction" which basically tells the jury if they find the defendant buried his head in the sand to avoid knowing what was going on, they can find him guilty.

Judge Richard Posner wrote the opinion. The trial judge was Amy St. Eve, the same judge that presided over the Tony Rezko trial. [More...]

The idea that obscenity can be defined by contemporary community standards has always been controversial. Why should First Amendment protections differ depending upon the majority viewpoint in one's community of residence?

The idea is even sillier in the age of the internet and satellite broadcasting. What does "community" mean? The internet community spreads across all boundaries. If two people in two different communities are watching the same movie or viewing the same website in the privacy of their own homes, why should one be less entitled to First Amendment protection than the other? Why should your neighbor's opinion make your private activity a crime? How is a person to know if obscenity is accepted in a particular community? Do you need to take a survey of community standards before you crack open Tropic of Cancer?

A creative defense to an obscenity trial in Florida is making use of Google data to show that Pensecola computer users have very low standards indeed (or, at least, that they share the typically raunchy interests of many members of every community). [more ...]

Why is a high school kid getting D's and F's when he's capable of doing this?

18-year-old Omar Khan should be graduating from high school this week, but instead he faces more than 38 years in prison for hacking into school computers. School officials at the Tesoro High School in Las Flores California allege that Khan changed grades and his Advanced Placement test scores. Khan is also alleged to have installed a remote access program onto school servers. In all, Khan is charged with 69 felonies.

Khan also broke into the principal's office to steal an exam that was taken from him when he was caught cheating.

Kahn is charged with a bucketful of felonies, but the $50,000 cash bail set in his case seem excessive. So far, his parents haven't posted it.

The Justice Department has been busy.

Former Bear Stearns Cos. hedge fund managers Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, arrested this morning at their homes in New Jersey and Manhattan, were indicted for mail fraud and conspiracy in the first prosecution stemming from a federal investigation of last year's mortgage-market collapse.

The two men were charged with misleading investors about the health of two Bear Stearns hedge funds whose implosion ignited the subprime mortgage crisis. Cioffi was also charged with insider trading in the indictment, which cites a series of e-mails between the two men. They face as much as 20 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.

It's part of the Justice Department's Operation Malicious Mortgage. In Chicago, there were 70 arrests. More than 400 have been indicted since March, with many more arrested:

Since March 1,406 people have been arrested in the sting dubbed "Operation Malicious Mortgage" that saw 144 cases across the country. Sixty people were arrested on Wednesday alone, including in Chicago, Miami, Houston and a dozen other regions policed by the FBI.

Private investigator Anthony Pellicano has asked the court to grant him a new trial.

The motion claims that at least four jurors talked about the case among themselves without other jurors present and that one juror knew about an upcoming witness because her husband read a blog tracking the trial.

Background collected here.

9th Circuit Chief Judge Alex Kozinski has declared a mistrial and recused himself from presiding over an obscenity trial following revelations this week that he had s!xually expl!cit material on his own personal website. (TChris' background is here.)

"In light of the public controversy surrounding my involvement in this case, I have concluded that there is a manifest necessity to declare a mistrial," said Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. "I will recuse myself from further participation in the case and will ask the chief judge of the district court to reassign it to another judge."

Susan Atkins has spent 37 years in prison for her role in the horrific murders of Sharon Tate and Gary Hinman. I've written a few times about why she should be paroled (same for Leslie Van Houton.)

Atkins is dying of brain cancer and had a leg amputated. With less than six months to live, she has received initial approval for compassionate release so she can die outside of prison.

Even former Manson prosecutor Vicent Bugliosi does not object:

"She has paid substantially, though not completely, for her horrendous crimes. Paying completely would mean imposing the death penalty," Bugliosi said. "But given that she has six months to live, and the loss of her leg, I don't have an objection to her being released."

[More...]

Those who follow crime in the news may be interested in the verdict that has finally been rendered in the drawn-out and highly publicized prosecution of R. Kelly:

A jury acquitted R. Kelly on all counts of child pornography after less than a day of deliberations Friday, ending an ordeal for the R&B superstar that began when he was charged six years ago.

Former NBA ref Tim Donaghy, awaiting sentence on charges of conspiracy to engage in wire fraud and transmitting betting information through interstate commerce, alleges in a letter to the court that NBA referees extended the 2002 Lakers-Kings Western Conference finals to seven games to maximize NBA revenues.

NBA commissioner David Stern vehemently denied the allegations, saying they are the desperate act of a convicted felon. He also disclosed that the league has already briefed members of the U.S. Congress on certain facets of the Donaghy investigation.

Expect Congress to halt work on substantive issues so that emergency hearings can address the latest scandal in the world of professional sports.