The ACLU has now weighed in on the Senate's passage of the Hate Crimes Law. In a nutshell, the ACLU says the House version is okay but the Senate version is not.

the Senate version of the hate crimes bill lacks the strong protections for speech and association included in legislation passed by the House of Representatives in June. The American Civil Liberties Union believes that without the speech and association protections included in the House bill, the Senate hate crimes legislation could have a chilling effect on constitutionally protected speech and membership.

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Unfortunately, the Democrats in the Senate got their way Thursday night as a sweeping hate crime bill was passed. In April, it passed the House. The Senate Bill is S. 909.

The hate crimes bill was offered as an amendment to a must-pass defense spending bill that the Senate is expected to finish some time next week. Several Republican amendments to the hate crimes legislation still could be considered on Monday, but Thursday's vote determined that it will be part of the defense bill when it passes.

Laws that increase penalties for "hate crimes" are unnecessary and ill-conceived. I've argued against them since 2000. Rather than quote myself again, I'll quote TChris: [More...]

Three House Committees worked together to draft a health care reform bill. The bill was release today. Ezra Klein at the Washington Post says it looks good.

For those that want to read the documents directly, the full bill is here. Fact sheets and summary documents are here.

I think I'll just keep reading Ezra.

Via the Constitution Project:

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security has scheduled a hearing today to examine mandatory minimum sentencing. The Subcommittee will consider three different proposed pieces of legislation that seek to provide judges with more discretion to avoid unjust outcomes when handing down sentences.

The hearing began at 10:30 a.m. ET. You can watch a webcast here. The bills under consideration:

• H.R. 2934, the "Common Sense in Sentencing Act of 2009";
• H.R. 834, the "Ramos and Compean Justice Act of 2009"; and
• H.R. 1466, the "Major Drug Trafficking Prosecution Act of 2009"

First, my huge thanks to Big Tent Democrat for his excellent blogging of this morning's Sotomayor hearing. Not only is his analysis right-on, he manages to hit the highlights and lowpoints of each round of questioning.

If I may divert for one post, please contact these Senators today and ask them to oppose the Pass I.D. Act, a flawed fix to the Real I.D. Act. A hearing is being held Wednesday before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

The ACLU and 17 other civil liberties groups sent a letter to Congress today. Their action alert is here. We need to repeal, not fix, the Real I.D. Act of 2005. [More...]

Via Kos, Joe Lieberman in 2006, when he was running for reelection:

After making that promise to the people of Connecticut in 2006, Liebrman now says:

“If we create a public option, the public is going to end up paying for it . . . That’s a cost we can’t take on.”

Joe Lieberman, now and forever, a bald faced liar.

Speaking for me only

The latest over-the-top "solution" to the problem of drunk driving -- brought to you by the zealots at Mothers Against Drunk Driving -- would dramatically increase the value of companies that manufacture and sell ignition interlock devices.

A new highway bill pending before Congress would instruct all 50 states to require every motorist convicted of driving under the influence equip their car with interlock systems that shut down a vehicle when a measured amount of alcohol is detected. ... There are already about 150,000 interlock system now in cars in the U.S., placed there for drivers with multiple DUI convictions. But the proposed mandate would expand the use of interlock systems exponentially; MADD's statistics indicate that nearly 1.5 million Americans are arrested annually on DUI charges, making it the number one crime for which American are arrested.

Only one-third of the drivers arrested for a drunk driving offense are repeat offenders. While the majority of first offenders will never be involved in an alcohol-related accident or arrested for a similar offense, MADD wants to burden them with an expensive gadget that will typically keep them from driving even if they're under the legal limit. The MADD plan has been adopted in some states, but MADD will settle for nothing less than federal legislation.

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Rachel's Law, named after a murdered police informant, goes into effect in Florida on Wednesday.

The new law will require police departments to train officers who recruit confidential informants, tell informants they can't promise a reduced sentences in exchange for their work and allow informants to consult with a lawyer if they ask.

....The bill "makes it more safe for people to be able to cooperate with law enforcement officials across our state," [Gov. Charlie] Crist said.

Will it make their testimony any more reliable? I doubt it.

Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA) told Huffington Post today he is introducing a companion bill to Sen. Jim Webb's bill to create a commission to study criminal justice and sentencing reform.

Delahunt, the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said that reform of the American justice system should begin with a broad look at drug policy.

"I think it's really time to do an absolute overview of the issue of drugs and come at it with an open mind," he said.

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President Obama signed the anti-tobacco bill today. He mentioned his own struggle with smoking.

But he didn't say how his own struggle was coming since he moved into the White House. And aides were no more forthcoming.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says Obama "struggles with it every day." An aide says they still pack Nicorette for him. [More...]

The Democrats have introduced an 852 page health care bill. First off, we'd get a Health Czar and another federal agency:

Under the House bill, health insurance would be regulated by a powerful new federal agency, headed by a presidential appointee known as the health choices commissioner.

And we'd get a public health plan, that will be opposed by insurance companies, Republicans, business owners and doctors. Why doctors?

The plan would initially use Medicare fee schedules, paying most doctors and hospitals at Medicare rates, plus about 5 percent. After three years, the health secretary could negotiate with doctors and hospitals....The bill would limit what doctors could charge patients in the public insurance plan, just as Medicare limits what doctors can charge beneficiaries.

It will require everyone to have a qualifying insurance plan and violators have to pay penalties. [More...]

Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) today introduced a bill to eliminate all federal penalties for marijuana possession. Via the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP):

The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2009 would eliminate the threat of federal arrest and prison for the possession of up to 3.5 ounces of marijuana and the not-for-profit transfer of an ounce of marijuana — nationwide.

Please go here and send an e-mail to your Congressperson asking them to support this bill. You can view last year's version of the bill here.

Last week he introduced the Medical Marijuana Patient Protection Act, (H.R. 2835), a bill to protect medical marijuana patients from arrest and jail and to allow pharmacies to dispense marijuana to patients with a doctor's recommendation. You can send a message to your Congressperson asking for support here.

Both bills were introduced last year but died at the end of the Congressional session. Hopefully, we'll have more luck this year. Please, do your part.