How lawyer navigates sea of secrecy in bizarre case

By Henry Weinstein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 15, 2007


SAN FRANCISCO — Oakland lawyer Jon Eisenberg calls the case of Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation v. George W. Bush the strangest he has ever handled. How strange? Eisenberg was required to write one of his briefs in a windowless government office, without notes or lawbooks, under the watchful eye of two federal security guards.

When he got hungry, one of the guards brought him a banana. And when he finished, a security official shredded all his drafts — and even the banana peel, Eisenberg said.

The brief-writing session was just one facet of the extraordinary secrecy surrounding the Al-Haramain case, Eisenberg said. Al-Haramain is one of dozens of plaintiffs across the nation that have filed suit, claiming they were illegally spied on by the government as part of the war on terror.

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LINDSAY LOHAN: LAWSUIT OVER CAR PURSUIT

Lindsay Lohan was sued Tuesday for assault and negligence by a passenger in a car the actress allegedly chased while drunk last month
“What Miss Lohan did that night was extremely dangerous and reprehensible,” Tracie Rice, the woman who filed the suit, said in statement, according to the Associated Press. “Someone could easily have been killed or seriously hurt because of her irresponsible decisions that evening.”
Rice’s attorney, Paul Hoffman says: “My client, Tracie Rice, thought she was going to die that night, and wants Ms. Lohan to be held accountable because Lohan’s behavior was so extreme and outrageous. Ms. Rice is still traumatized from the incident.

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ON THE RIGHT TO MEDICAL MARIJUANA PRIVACY

Oregon subpoenas worry medical marijuana advocates

PORTLAND (AP) — Federal subpoenas seeking medical records of 17 Oregon medical marijuana patients have growers and users upset and nervous even as a federal judge considers whether to throw the subpoenas out.
Sunday, August 12, 2007 2:54 AM PDT

‘‘It’s crazy. It’s really scary. If they can get my records, they can get Gov. (Ted) Kulongoski’s, they can get yours,’’ said Donald DuPay, a former Portland police officer and 2006 candidate for Multnomah County sheriff.

DuPay says his records are among those subpoenaed.

A federal grand jury in Yakima, Wash., issued the subpoenas in April as part of an investigation of some growers in Oregon and Washington.

The patients are not targets of the grand jury.

A Seattle spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration declined comment.

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HEMP CAN MAKE US COOL AGAIN by Jay Good

Remember when the US was considered cool and happening? John Lennon once compared NY to Rome, and moved here to be near the action. Unfortunately our government tried to deport him on a drug charge, but Lennon stayed cool, retained a lawyer, and got his greencard. Soon afterwards Rome began to burn, Lennon was gunned down, we began to lose our cool. Too bad Lennon kept his...

Today our government continues it's domestic drug war as it battles overseas for position. The biggest change for the Globe in the last 25 years it turns out, is the one we can't see; our ozone layer.

To no ones surprise George Bush is ducking out on this one, but we are still a savvy nation with brilliant minds like Al Gore to help shine the light and lead the way. Let's us keep politics off to the side so that we may begin to affect change and rebound. Once we take those first steps in our fight against global warming, the eventual restarting of US hemp production will be much more feasible, perhaps one day, even a no brainer.

After that we can go all out green. Just think we'll be known as a lean green global machince. Hey, won't that make us cool, once again.

HEMP FACTS

PHIL SPECTOR JURORS VISIT CRIME SCENE

Phil Spector Jurors to Visit Crime Scene

By LINDA DEUTSCH
The Associated Press
 Thursday, August 9, 2007; 10:01 AM

LOS ANGELES -- Attorneys want jurors in the Phil Spector trial to stand in the foyer of his home and see for themselves the spot where actress Lana Clarkson's body was found.
The jury will head to Spector's mansion, 15 miles northeast of Los Angeles in Alhambra, on Thursday to get a firsthand look. The question of where Spector was standing when Clarkson was shot in the mouth and how far blood can travel have been key issues in the case.

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Check out Allison's Phil Spector Video on her prediction on the case's outcome

GO ASK ALLISON - ON THE DA & LOW LEVEL MARIJUANA CASES

LA's Dopest Attorney Allison Margolin talks about a recent incident where a Torrance District Attorney intimidated and coerced a medical marijuana patient to plead guilt

SEATTLE HEMPFEST 07 SHAPING UP TO BE THE DOPEST

Invitation to speak at Hempfest 2007

Dear Allison Margolin,

Seattle Hempfest is one of the world's foremost drug policy reform events, the largest pot rally on earth. On behalf of our one thousand strong volunteer crew, the Hempfest speakers crew extends our deepest thanks for the work you do. We would like to invite you to speak at this year's event, to be held August 18-19, 2007 at Myrtle Edwards Park on Seattle's waterfront

I would love to be there and I graciously accept!

BRITNEY SPEARS DIVORCE OFFICIAL

Spears, Federline Divorce Is Final
By AMANDA BECK, Associated Press Writer
7:54 AM PDT, July 31, 2007

LOS ANGELES -- Britney Spears' marriage to Kevin Federline officially ended Monday. "They are divorced," the pop star's attorney, Laura Wasser, said after a Superior Court hearing. "Everything is finalized."

Court Commissioner Scott Gordon signed orders for dissolution of marriage, an alimony agreement and child custody.

The alimony agreement will not be made public unless there is an enforcement issue, Wasser said.

"Most of that tracks the prenup," the attorney said, without elaborating.

The child custody order was tentatively sealed, pending an Aug. 14 hearing.

"The best interests of the children could be harmed" if the arrangement were not sealed, Gordon said.

Spears married Federline in October 2004, eight months after her first marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander was annulled. She cited irreconcilable differences when she filed for divorce from Federline on Nov. 7, 2006.

Wasser said that Spears was "OK" with the terms of the settlement but that "she would like to be with her kids more."

Since February, Spears, 25, and Federline, 29, have shared joint custody of their two sons, 22-month-old Sean Preston and 10-month-old Jayden James.

MARIJUANA SCHIZOPHRENIA REPORT IS PURE BUNK

Will One Joint Really Make You Schizoid?

Maia Szalavitz, July 30, 2007

Just what did a new study on marijuana and schizophrenia actually say – and what did the media leave out?

Watching the media cover marijuana is fascinating, offering deep insight into conventional wisdom, bias and failure to properly place science in context. The coverage of a new study claiming that marijuana increases the risk of later psychotic illnesses like schizophrenia by 40% displays many of these flaws.
What are the key questions reporters writing about such a study needs to ask? First, can the research prove causality? Most of the reporting here, to its credit, establishes at some point that it cannot,though you have to read pretty far down in some of it to understand this.

Second – and this is where virtually all of the coverage falls flat –, if marijuana produces what seems like such a large jump in risk for schizophrenia, have schizophrenia rates increased in line with marijuana use rates? A quick search of Medline shows that this is not the case-- in fact, as I noted here earlier, some experts think they may actually have fallen. Around the world, roughly 1% of the population has schizophrenia (and another 2% or so have other psychotic disorders), and this proportion doesn’t seem to change much. It is not correlated with population use rates of marijuana.

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NICOLE RICHIE TO SERVE 90 HOURS IN JAIL FOR DUI VIOLATION

Nicole Richie, co-star on"The Simple Life" was sentenced this moring at the Glendale courthouse to serve 90 hours in jail for driving under the influence in December. Richie has been given until September 28th to serve her jail hours.

Richie is rumored to be four months pregnant. She showed up at the courthouse with no immediate family, just her boyfriend, As part of her sentencing she is to complete 21 days of rehab, and will be on probation for three years.