So, Qatari diplomat Mohammed Al-Madadi, believed to have been sneaking a smoke during a flight to Denver, was en route to the prison at Florence, Colorado to check on the welfare of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a Qatari citizen convicted of terrorism. (Plea Agreement here.)From the BOP website:

ALI SALEH KAHLAH AL-MARRI
#12194-026
44-White-M
01-18-2015
FLORENCE HIGH USP

Al-Marri was originally held in the South Carolina brig as an enemy combatant and transferred to civilian custody when he was indicted in Illinois for conspiring to provide material support to terrorists. He pleaded guilty was sentenced and is serving his time in Florence.

That's a perfectly proper basis for a visit. It's an important role of consular officials -- checking the welfare of citizens imprisoned in other countries. Al Marri had previously complained of abusive treatment. [More...]

Qatari diplomat al Madadi has been released from custody, cleared to fly back to D.C. and will not face charges.

Local news is reporting a state department official says Qatar will "withdraw" him, meaning he will go back to Qatar and that he has left for D.C.

The Qatar Ambassador, H.E. ALI BIN FAHAD AL-HAJRI, on the embassy's website, says he was flying on official business, at his instruction, and did nothing wrong. (the caps are their's)

"PRESS REPORTS TODAY REGARDING AN INCIDENT ABOARD A COMMERCIAL FLIGHT FROM WASHINGTON, DC TO DENVER, CO INDICATE THAT A QATARI DIPLOMAT WAS DETAINED FOR SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR. WE RESPECT THE NECESSITY OF SPECIAL SECURITY PRECAUTIONS INVOLVING AIR TRAVEL, BUT THIS DIPLOMAT WAS TRAVELING TO DENVER ON OFFICIAL EMBASSY BUSINESS ON MY INSTRUCTIONS, AND HE WAS CERTAINLY NOT ENGAGED IN ANY THREATENING ACTIVITY. THE FACTS WILL REVEAL THAT THIS WAS A MISTAKE, AND WE URGE ALL CONCERNED PARTIES TO AVOID RECKLESS JUDGMENTS OR SPECULATION.

Sounds like he's on his way back to D.C. (undoubtedly on a private jet) to clear out his residence and then will head back to Qatar or on to a post in another country.

Interesting bit of irony, via Majlis: Today the Qatar government stepped up its campaign against smoking in public in its own country.

Voters in Nederland, Colorado (15 miles west of Boulder) yesterday approved an initiative removing criminal penalties for adult marijuana offenses. The ordinance reads:

Shall the electors of the town of Nederland adopt an amendment to the Nederland town code, effective June 1, 2010, removing all criminal penalties under town law to buy, sell, possess, consume, transport, cultivate, manufacture and dispense marijuana and its concentrate and related paraphernalia by persons twenty one years of age and older?”

482 votes were tallied. On the marijuana initiative, the vote was 259 to 218.

In November, Breckenridge legalized possession of up to one ounce. Question: Is Nederland the first municipality to legalize selling of marijuana for recreational (vs. medical)use?

d-day:

Dan Froomkin now sizes up the insurance industry’s next move, and agrees that they will scrap for every advantage to turn the ACA even more to their advantage[.]

When the focus is on, as it was on the insurance companies' argument that they could elude the prohibition on discrimination against children with pre-existing conditions, the regulators won't be captured. But the Secretary of HHS can not maintain that level of scrutiny, even if they wanted to. And the assault will be constant. Here is the latest:

I thought there was something wrong with my Jeep's temperature read-out today, it showed 77 degrees. But it's 77 degrees inside my house right now. What's going on? Denver broke a 131 year record today. The high temperature was 82 degrees.

And what is up with the viewer voting on DWTS? How could Shannon Dougherty and Pamela Anderson be in the final two? How could Buzz Aldrin and the awful Kate Gosselin stay when the they got such dismal judge's scores last night? Pamela and Shannon weren't even in my bottom 5. Buzz or Kate definitely should have gone home instead.

Are any of you watching Breaking Bad on AMC? It may be the most depressing show ever but like Damages, it's good to see a crime show that isn't about glorifying cops. It's got a loyal and growing fan base and the unusual lead actor has won two emmys for the role. Both are so much better than shows like Castle, which got renewed today. Another crime show with promise, even though it's about a U.S. Marshal, is FX's Justified. [More...]

March for America and comprehensive immigration reform this Sunday. I hope you will all check out the ad on the right and do your part.

No human being is illegal. This is an opportunity to march for democracy, march for American workers, march for family unification and march for justice.

March 21, National Mall, Washington DC
March at 2:00 pm

In Grand Junction, Colorado, a strange odor in the Government census office resulted in a search warrant being executed next door and the discovery and seizure of 1,000 marijuana plants. Sid Squirrel, who owns the building and is a realtor, says the plants are his, and he's growing them in compliance with state law. Also found: 300 file folders containing cards of medical marijuana patients.

Colorado law allows patients to possess up to two ounces of marijuana or six plants. Patients can also designate a caregiver. So for each patient who designated Mr. Squirrel as his or her caregiver, Squirrel can grow 6 plants. If 300 patients designated him as a caregiver, he could grow 1,800 plants and be in compliance with state law.

Squirrel was not arrested yesterday. [More...]

Update: The judge has released the three questions asked by the jury during deliberations. The second one:

... a question asked yesterday about whether Clark could be found guilty of first-degree murder "as a result of being complicit." The judge said yes.

If, the judge wrote, "you find that another person committed all or part of either the crime of murder in the first degree (extreme indifference) or murder in the first degree (after deliberation)... then the defendant may be found guilty of either or both murder in the first degree."

Update: 12:08 pm. Foreman hands over verdict forms. Judge examines. Count 1: 1st degree murder: Guilty; Count 2: 1st degree murder: Guilty; Guilty on all 21 counts. (Update: Audio clip of reading of verdict here.)

After 11 hours of deliberations, the jury has reached a verdict in the Willie Clark murder trial. He's accused of killing Denver Bronco Darrent Williams. It will be read in 15 minutes.

I haven't been able to blog about the trial because it's too closely related to a certain federal drug case I'm involved in, but I will cover the verdict. [More....]

I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon telling me my affiliate account is being dropped because Colorado passed a law requiring sales tax on internet purchases. Amazon wants Coloradans to work to get the law repealed. In the meantime, it is cancelling all business and affiliate accounts that do business with them.

The affiliates, ranging from online booksellers to individual bloggers who advertise Amazon on their websites to receive a commission in return, were both angry and confused by the move. And some say they were not notified.

Judith Briles, chief executive officer of Mile High Press, a book publisher in Aurora, says:

"Amazon is going to get horrendous publicity for this. But there are two bad guys: Amazon and the lawmakers who moved this legislation through so fast."

It was odd they canceled the accounts immediately. And I liked doing business with Amazon, even though their referral rates are really low. [More...]

I'm off to see Bon Jovi at the Pepsi Center in Denver. I talked the TL kid into going with me, and his dad gave us great seats.

I'm sorry (not) to miss Jason and Molly's wedding on TV, but I have "24" and "Life Unexpected" Tivo'd.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The LA Times has an article on Justice Clarence's rejection of prisoner brutality claims under the theory the inmates hadn't show substantial physical damage.

According to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a prisoner who was slammed to a concrete floor and punched and kicked by a guard after asking for a grievance form -- but suffered neither serious nor permanent harm -- has no claim that his constitutional rights were violated.

The Times notes that at one time, John Yoo was Justice Thomas' law clerk.

Thomas' consistent record of dismissing claims of prison brutality, most of them joined by Justice Antonin Scalia, shows that Yoo's view of torture was not that of a rogue lawyer. Instead, it represents a strain of conservative thinking that looks back in history to define cruelty and torture, rather than toward what the court has called the "evolving standards of decency."

[More...]

Colorado Rep. Jared Polis wrote a letter yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder criticizing the recent federal raids on medical marijuana in Colorado.

Tuesday, Polis sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asking him to instruct agents to abide by the Justice Department's Oct. 19 directive to allow deference to state laws on legalized medical marijuana use, or to clarify the new position.

Polis sent a copy of the letter to President Obama. He posted his letter today on Square State. (Why don't they promote it to the front page from the diaries?) I'm reprinting it below: [More...]