2008.08.09 - PEGC Update ========================== 1) OBAMA WINS CNN -- November 4, 2008 OBAMA'S VICTORY SPEECH http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/04/obama.transcript/ 2) THE DETAINEE CASES There's quite a bit going on these days; for the details, see the outstanding reports by Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog linked below. But now the election has created a very interesting situation. In two months, the government's view of the law in these cases is going to change, and change a lot. The question is how much and how soon, and it's clear that DOJ is a mess that will require major house cleaning of both personel and legal policy. It will be very interesting to see how the new administration deals with it. Then there's DoD, and all I'm going to say about that is that I think it would be a VERY bad idea to keep Gates as Secretary of Defense -- DoD is almost as rotten as DOJ is. SCOTUSBlog -- November 7, 2008 US DEFENDS INDEFINITE DETENTION POWER by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/us-defends-indefinite-detention-power/ November 6, 2008 RULES SET FOR 113 DETAINEE CASES by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/rules-set-for-113-detainee-cases/ November 5, 2008 SHOWDOWN OVER DTA'S FUTURE by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/showdown-over-dtas-future/ November 4, 2008 CIRCUIT COURT: DTA PROCESS IS PROBABLY DEAD by Lyle Denniston http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/circuit-court-dta-process-is-probably-dead/ D.C. CIrcuit -- November 4, 2008 BASARDH (ISN 252) v. GATES, No. 07-1192 On Motion to Hold Case in Abeyance or, in the alternative, Dismiss Without Prejudice Before: HENDERSON, RANDOLPH, and BROWN, Circuit Judges. http://pacer.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/200811/07-1192-1147407.pdf 3) THE ELECTION RESULTS From various sources... * PRESIDENT / POPULAR VOTE (Associated Press) Barack Obama (Democratic) - 65,431,955 (52.6%) John McCain (Republican) - 57,434,084 (46.1%) Ralph Nader (none) - 679,149 (00.5%) Bob Barr (Libertarian) - 499,912 (00.4%) Chuck Baldwin (Constitution) - 180,780 (00.1%) Cynthia McKinney (Green) - 146,539 (00.1%) [ 2004 - Bush 62,040,610 (50.7%), Kerry 59,028,444 (48.3%) ] [ 2000 - Gore 50,999,897 (48.4%), Bush 50,456,002 (47.9%) ] * PRESIDENT / ELECTORAL COLLEGE Obama 365 (67.8%), McCain 173 (32.2%) Those numbers assume that McCain's lead in Missouri holds up and Obama wins the electoral vote for the 2nd Congressional District of Nebraska. * US SENATE Democrats 55, Republicans 40, Independents 2, PENDING 3 * US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Democrats 255, Republicans 174, PENDING 6 * STATE GOVERNORS Democrats 29, Republicans 21 * STATE LEGISLATURES Democratic Control - 27 Republican Control - 15 (includes Nebraska, which is formally non-partisan) Split Control - 8 Congressional Quarterly -- November 7, 2008 SOME HOUSE AND SENATE SEATS MAY TAKE WEEKS TO RESOLVE http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=2&docID=news-000002983927 Politico -- November 8, 2008 THAT HUGE VOTER TURNOUT? DIDN'T HAPPEN By David Paul Kuhn http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1108/15422.html FiveThirtyEight.com -- November 9, 2008 2010 SENATE RANKINGS, PART I: RACES #21-#35 by Nate Silver http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/2010-senate-rankings-part-i-races-21-35.html X) OP ED Harper's -- November 9, 2008 SCHILLER - FREEDOM'S HYMN by Scott Horton http://harpers.org/archive/2008/11/hbc-90003825 San Francisco Chronicle -- November 7, 2008 ELECTION DAY REPORT by Jon Carroll http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/07/DDLS13UPS0.DTL JURIST -- October 23, 2008 THE CASE AGAINST A NATIONAL SECURITY COURT by Jordan Paust http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/forumy/2008/10/case-against-national-security-court.php Mark R. Shulman, THE FOUR FREEDOMS: GOOD NEIGHBORS MAKE GOOD LAW AND GOOD POLICY IN A TIME OF INSECURITY, Pace University School of Law http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1287160 * * * PROJECT TO ENFORCE THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS (PEGC) http://www.pegc.us PEGC Blog http://pegc.blogspot.com/ Charles B. Gittings Jr. Fort Bragg, California cbgittingsyahoo.com +1-707-964-2151