For Crack Offenders, Earlier Shot At Release

By Darryl FearsWashington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 12, 2007; Page A01
The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted unanimously yesterday to give federal inmates incarcerated for crack cocaine offenses a chance to reduce their sentences, paving the way for about 3,800 prisoners to petition for an early release in the next year.
Yesterday's vote was a controversial sequel to the panel's decision this spring to change the guidelines it issues to judges, reducing the sentences that are handed out to people convicted of crack cocaine offenses. That decision, which went into effect Nov. 1, applied to future cases. Yesterday's vote made that decision retroactive, covering people already imprisoned.

According to an analysis by the commission, 19,500 inmates will be eligible to petition the courts to reduce their sentences. The largest number of those -- more than 1,400 -- were convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, covering Northern Virginia and the Richmond and Tidewater areas. About 280 inmates convicted in federal courts in Maryland will be eligible, as well as almost 270 prisoners convicted and sentenced in the District.
"Crack cocaine sentences have generally been excessive and unwarranted," said William K. Sessions III, a vice chair of the commission. He went on to quote Judge Reggie B. Walton, who appeared before the commission last month: "I just don't see how it's fair that someone sentenced on October 30th gets a certain sentence when someone sentenced on November 1st gets another."
The commission's vote came a day after the Supreme Court decided that federal district judges are not bound by commission guidelines that created a large disparity in punishments meted out to crack and powder cocaine offenders. The 7 to 2 decision cut across the court's typical ideological divide.
The commission's decisions are its attempts to narrow that gap. That disparity, first written into federal law by Congress in 1986, has long been criticized by some jurists and civil rights advocates because it meant crack cocaine offenders, who tend to be African American, often get longer prison sentences than those convicted of crimes involving powder cocaine, who more often are white.
The Bush administration strongly opposed the commission's vote to make its earlier decision retroactive, arguing that inmates would clog the courts with appeals for reductions.
"Making the revised guidelines for crack cocaine retroactive will make thousands of dangerous prisoners, many of them violent gang members, eligible for immediate release," Craig S. Morford, acting deputy attorney general, said in a statement released by the Justice Department. "These offenders are among the most serious and violent offenders in the federal system."
In March, crack cocaine offenders will be eligible to petition the courts that originally sentenced them to have their prison time reduced. Many could be denied by judges based on certain factors, such as whether they represent a public danger or were convicted for other crimes.
"The profound reason why we should get this retroactive application is it is the right thing to do," Vice Chair Ruben Castillo said minutes before the vote. "We should constantly strive to make sure that race plays no role in the day-to-day operation of the criminal justice system."
if Commissioner Beryl A. Howell called the vote "one of the most important decisions the commission has made" during her three years of service. She noted that the panel contributed to the disparity by establishing guidelines that were even more severe than what Congress allowed for in the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986.
As part of a tough sentencing equation, the bipartisan commission mandated that conviction for possessing or distributing five grams of crack cocaine would draw the same mandatory minimum prison sentence of five years as a conviction for possessing or selling 500 grams of powder cocaine, and 10 year for 50 grams of crack or 5,000 grams of powder. In 1995 the commission asked Congress to treat the drugs equally for sentencing purposes, but the request was rejected.

Howell said the vote, which could reduce sentences by an average of 27 months for inmates sentenced under the old guidelines, is small but important. "It is significant because it's the first correct movement in over . . . 20 years. Though modest, I think it shows the commission is trying to change the contribution it has made to the disparity."
But the change is not a "get out of jail free" card, said commissioner Michael E. Horowitz. "Not everybody is automatically entitled to this reduction," he said, explaining that federal judges, many of whom supported making the guidelines retroactive, will decide cases individually on merit.
Sessions said the commission decided to delay retroaction until March 3 so that courts can prepare for an onslaught of inmate motions. The Bureau of Prisons will be asked to notify its facilities, and administrators are to notify inmates of their eligibility.
Echoing a majority of commissioners, Castillo said the vote is a signal to Congress "to make a comprehensive change" in the drug laws.
In the audience, activists from groups such as Families Against Mandatory Minimums joined the family members of inmates in applauding the vote.
Karen Garrison, a D.C. mother whose twin sons, both Howard University graduates whose convictions were based on witness testimony, said: "This is the first time I have really been excited about anything." Lamont Garrison's 19-year sentence could be reduced by four years, and Lawrence's sentence could be reduced by three.
Secoya Jenkins, 16, of Orange, N.J., smiled broadly and said, "I'm excited because my mom is coming home." Nerika Jenkins, 35, also convicted because of witness testimony, is serving a 19-year sentence.
"It is a remarkable day," said Marc Mauer, executive director of the Sentencing Project. "While this is only the federal system and it's a small change, it's going to resonate around the world."

Alex Trebek Jeopardized by Heart Attack

by Sarah Hall

The category? Cardiac events. The clue? Alex Trebek.
The longtime Jeopardy! host suffered a minor heart attack at his home Monday night, a spokesperson for the quiz show confirmed to E! News.
He was said to be "resting comfortably" at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday and was expected to remain there for two days while undergoing tests.
Trebek, 67, has hosted the long-running game show since 1984 and has earned four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game-Show Host, as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of his know-it-all endeavors.
He is expected to recover in plenty of time to return to the studio in January for the next scheduled Jeopardy! tapings. It's not the first health scare Trebek has endured in recent years.
In January 2004, he escaped major injury after falling asleep behind the wheel of his pickup truck and careening over a 45-foot embankment.
He was not hospitalized following the crash, nor was he cited for the accident.
The Canadian-born Trebek became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1998. He lives in Studio City with his wife and two children.
When he's not presiding over Jeopardy!, Trebek can be found tending to the thoroughbred horse ranch he owns in Creston, California.

The Huckabee Factor

By ZEV CHAFETS
Published: December 12, 2007
This article will appear in the upcoming issue of the Sunday Magazine.


Mark Peterson for The New York Times
Meeting supporters at a community college near Des Moines.
Mike Huckabee walked into the lobby of the Des Moines Marriott at 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 3, deposited an armful of dirty laundry at the desk and checked to make sure he was being credited with Marriott Rewards points toward his next stay. Then, accompanied by his wife, Janet, his daughter, Sarah, and his press secretary, Alice Stewart — who doubles as his Boston Marathon trainer — he walked into the dark, freezing morning, climbed into a waiting S.U.V. and headed for Central College in Pella, Iowa.
Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, was in a buoyant mood on three hours of sleep. The night before, his commercial flight suffered a long Chicago holdover on the way from Boston, but he had reason to hope that his days at the mercy of the airlines might be numbered. A Des Moines Register opinion poll had just shown Huckabee passing Mitt Romney to take the lead in the run-up to the Jan. 3 caucus. His picture, he already knew, was on the front page of that morning’s USA Today. Now he was headed to Central College, to appear, surrounded by enthusiastic students, on ‘‘The Early Show’’ on CBS . This kind of momentum, he hoped, would finally produce enough cash to allow him to charter his own plane.
The governor was especially happy that morning about an impending endorsement he expected (and received the following day) from Tim LaHaye, the author of the apocalyptic ‘‘Left Behind’’ series of novels. ‘‘Left Behind’’ is wildly popular among evangelicals, who have bought more than 65 million copies, making LaHaye a very rich man and one of the few writers who is also a major philanthropist. Recently he donated a hockey rink to Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University, although some members of the faculty there deride ‘‘Left Behind’’ as science fiction. Huckabee, an ordained Southern Baptist minister, has no such reservations. He considers the ‘‘Left Behind’’ books, in which the world comes to a violent end as Jesus triumphs over Satan, a ‘‘compelling story written for nontheologians.’’
Huckabee’s affability and populist economic and social views have sometimes been misinterpreted as a moderate brand of evangelical Christianity. In fact, as he wrote in his book ‘‘Character Makes a Difference,’’ he considers liberalism to be a cancer on Christianity. Huckabee is an admirer of the late Jerry Falwell (whose son, Jerry Jr., recently endorsed his candidacy) and subscribes wholeheartedly to the principles of the Moral Majority. He also affirms the Baptist Faith and Message statement: ‘‘The Holy Bible . . . has truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy.’’
On the road to Pella, Huckabee talked about the enthusiasm he now encounters everywhere he goes. For example, he said, his driver in California not only declined payment but also wrote the governor a $50 personal check right on the spot. It was, I thought, a dangerous anecdote to tell within earshot of a professional driver traveling along an icy highway at high speed, but Huckabee was feeling invulnerable, and the driver, I later realized, was already on the governor’s team. Huckabee normally starts his mornings by running 6 to 10 miles and reading a chapter from the Book of Proverbs. Today he was too pressed to do either, but he planned to catch up later. Anyway, he knew much of the day’s assignment, Chapter 3, by heart. ‘‘Trust in the Lord,’’ he quoted, ‘‘and lean not upon thine own understanding.’’ Not a bad motto for a campaign that is still too broke to do any independent polling.
Chapter 3 also contains the admonition to ‘‘keep sound wisdom and discretion.’’ Huckabee is, indeed, a discreet fellow, but he has no trouble making his feelings known. He mentioned how much he respected his fellow candidates John McCain and Rudolph W. Giuliani. The name of his principal rival in Iowa, Mitt Romney, went unmentioned. Romney, a Mormon, had promised that he would be addressing the subject of his religion a few days later. I asked Huckabee, who describes himself as the only Republican candidate with a degree in theology, if he considered Mormonism a cult or a religion. ‘‘I think it’s a religion,’’ he said. ‘‘I really don’t know much about it.’’

Fed Skeptical of Recession, Cut Disappoints Investors (Update1)

By Scott Lanman and Craig Torres

Dec. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials still expect the economy to grow and are reluctant to deliver the deeper interest-rate reductions demanded by some economists and investors.
The Federal Open Market Committee lowered the benchmark rate by a quarter-point yesterday to 4.25 percent, and said cumulative cuts of 1 percentage point this year should promote ``moderate growth.'' Policy makers also dropped their assessment that growth and inflation risks were ``roughly'' equal and cited ``uncertainty'' about the outlook.
The move put the central bank, which has struggled to contain the subprime credit collapse, further at odds with investors. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell the most after a Fed decision since Ben S. Bernanke, 53, became chairman in February 2006 as traders speculated he will fail to avert a recession. Officials haven't ruled out further steps to ease the credit squeeze in financial markets before they meet Jan. 29-30.
``This is a reluctant committee, they didn't want to ease,'' said Vincent Reinhart, former director of the Fed's Division of Monetary Affairs and now a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. ``The data are coming about as expected, and they are being asked to respond. They view that as double-counting.''
Officials are actively considering ways to stem a surge in borrowing costs among banks and increase liquidity in markets. Some economists were disappointed the Fed didn't announce a greater cut to the discount rate than the quarter-point that officials delivered yesterday.
Yields Tumble
Stocks fell in Europe and Asia after the Fed's decision. Treasuries also fell, with two-year yields rising 12 basis points, or 0.12 percentage point, to 3.04 percent by 9:37 a.m. in London, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP.
Futures prices showed traders anticipate the Fed will cut its main rate to 3.75 percent or lower by the end of March. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
``I can't remember a time when the Fed's credibility with the markets has been lower than it is today,'' said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a former Fed researcher. ``Practically everyone has something to be disappointed with'' in the Fed's statement.
The Fed lowered the charge on direct loans to banks, the discount rate, to 4.75 percent, surprising economists who expected a half-point reduction to encourage more borrowing.
Direct Loans
Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn and other officials have expressed frustration banks haven't made more use of direct loans. While lending jumped as high as $7.2 billion on Sept. 12, it has since retreated.
Concern about mounting losses on securities linked to mortgages diminished banks' willingness to lend to each other, sending funding costs higher. The three-month dollar London Interbank Offered Rate rose to 5.11 percent yesterday from 4.87 percent a month before.
``Strains in financial markets have increased in recent weeks,'' policy makers recognized yesterday. That contributed to the ``uncertainty surrounding the outlook for economic growth and inflation,'' the Fed said.
The risk of companies defaulting on their debt rose the most in a month yesterday. The Markit CDX North America Investment Grade Index, a U.S. benchmark, climbed 6 basis points to 79 basis points, according to Deutsche Bank AG in New York.
Economists said the central bank may consider steps such as extending discount-rate loan terms to 90 days, from 30. In 1999, the Fed addressed potential money shortages during the 2000 computer-system changeover by selling options on almost $500 billion of repurchase agreements.
Dissenting Vote
Policy makers weren't united on yesterday's decision. Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, 50, a former bank- supervision chief with a research background in New England and Japanese financial crises, favored a half-point reduction.
Only seven of the 12 Fed district banks requested the quarter-point discount-rate cut, suggesting some asked for a bigger move, analysts said.
The Fed has avoided stating that growth was a bigger concern than inflation in its statements since August. On Aug. 7, the FOMC said inflation was a greater risk, only to cut rates the next month. Officials said after their Oct. 30-31 meeting that the risks were ``roughly'' equal.
Each time, futures trading showed traders shrugged off the comments, continuing to bet on further rate cuts.
`Self-Fulfilling'
``The Fed's tendency to be more reactionary, combined with a market braced for a greater, more pronounced slowdown, amounts to a self-fulfilling prophecy,'' said Taylor Burroughs, an Atlanta-based derivatives analyst at Regions Financial Corp., with $138 billion in assets. ``The Fed is looking at forecasts and the market is more focused on the here and now.''
Officials noted that ``elevated energy and commodity prices'' may cause faster inflation. A Labor Department report Dec. 14 may show consumer prices climbed 4.1 percent last month from a year before, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey. Excluding food and energy, prices probably rose 2.3 percent, from 2.2 percent in October.
Policy makers may feel as if they're ``walking in a dark room,'' said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. ``They're not feeling as certain as they would like to about where the economy is heading.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Scott Lanman in Washington at slanman@bloomberg.net ; Craig Torres in Washington at ctorres3@bloomberg.net Last Updated: December 12, 2007 05:47 EST

FCC Pressed to Stop Internet Blocking

Nov 30, 2007,
Earlier this month, responding to Comcast's blocking of Internet traffic, members of the SavetheInternet.com Coalition and Internet scholars at the nation's top law schools filed a petition and complaint with the Federal Communications Commission. The filings call for urgent action to stop violations of consumers' right to access the software and content of their choice. In the "most drastic example yet of data discrimination," the Associated Press recently exposed that Comcast, the nation's largest cable company and second-largest Internet service provider, is actively interfering with its users' ability to access legal content. The company is cutting off legal peer-to-peer file-sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Gnutella, as well as business applications such as Lotus Notes. Comcast has claimed its actions were "reasonable network management." "Comcast's defense is bogus," said Ben Scott, policy director of Free Press. "The FCC needs to take immediate action to put an end to this harmful practice. Comcast's blatant and deceptive BitTorrent blocking is exactly the type of problem advocates warned would occur without Net Neutrality laws. Our message to both the FCC and Congress is simple: We told you so, now do something about it." The "Petition for Declaratory Ruling" presses the FCC to establish that blocking peer-to-peer communications like BitTorrent violates the agency's "Internet Policy Statement" -- four principles issued in 2005 that are supposed to guarantee consumers competition among providers and access to all content, applications and services. "Last year, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin and opponents of Net Neutrality told Congress that the FCC has all the authority it needs to prevent exactly this sort of customer abuse by a major provider," said Harold Feld, senior vice president of Media Access Project. "Now we come to the acid test. Will the FCC, which vowed to protect our freedom to run the applications of our choice, stand up for citizens in the face of Comcast?" The FCC issued its policy after dismantling longstanding "open access" requirements that had protected Net Neutrality since the birth of the Internet. Millions of concerned citizens and hundreds of organizations from across the political spectrum have urged Congress and the FCC to reinstate and enforce Net Neutrality laws to prevent discrimination by cable and phone companies, which dominate nearly 95 percent of the broadband market. "The Commission has a choice," said Gigi B. Sohn, president and co-founder of Public Knowledge. "It can either protect consumers from the abuses of telephone and cable companies, or it can walk away and let the telephone and cable companies chip away at the free and open Internet little by little until they can control consumer use of the network as they please. We will see how serious the Commission is about preserving the neutral, non-discriminatory Internet that encourages innovation without permission." The petition was filed by Free Press, Public Knowledge, Media Access Project, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, Charles Nesson of Harvard Law School and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, and Barbara van Schewick of Stanford Law School and the Stanford Center for Internet & Society. Free Press and Public Knowledge also filed a complaint against Comcast, asking the FCC to stop Comcast from interfering with Internet traffic and rule that the cable giant's actions directly violate the agency's Internet Policy Statement. The groups proposed fines to deter future violations by Comcast and other Internet service providers. "Nobody gave Comcast the right to be an Internet gatekeeper," says Marvin Ammori, general counsel of Free Press and co-author of the complaint. "And there is nothing reasonable about telling users which Internet services they can and can't use." Petition for Declaratory Ruling:http://www.freepress.net/docs/fp_et_al_nn_declaratory_ruling.pdf Comcast Complaint:http://www.freepress.net/docs/fp_pk_comcast_complaint.pdf For more information, visit www.SavetheInternet.com

Beginning Jan 31, New Travel Document Requirements

Beginning Jan. 31, New Travel Document Requirements in Effect for Anyone Entering the U.S.
Dec 4, 2007, News Report
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Department of State (DOS) today reminded the traveling public that as of Jan. 31, 2008, all adult travelers will be required to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, and proof of identity, such as a driver's license, when entering the United States through land and sea ports of entry. DHS will be issuing a notice in the Federal Register formally announcing the change.This change is a necessary step to prepare travelers and ease the transition to the future requirements of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), said the DHS in a release. WHTI proposes to establish documentation requirements for travelers entering the United States who were previously exempt, including citizens of the U.S., Canada and Bermuda. As recommended by the 9/11 Commission, Congress enacted WHTI in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. WHTI will result in both enhanced security and increased facilitation across the border once implemented. During this transition, DHS and the Department of State are working diligently to minimize the impact on legitimate trade and travel.Currently, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers may accept oral declarations of citizenship from U.S. and Canadian citizens seeking entry into the United States through a land or sea border. However, as of January 31, 2008:
· Oral declarations of citizenship alone will no longer be accepted.
· U.S. and Canadian citizens ages 19 and older will need to present a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, along with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.
· Children ages 18 and under will only be required to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate.
· Passports and trusted traveler program cards -- NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST -- will continue to be accepted for cross-border travel.
· All existing nonimmigrant visa and passport requirements will remain in effect and will not be altered by this change.
DOS reminded the public that the current turnaround time for a passport is four to six weeks, so Americans planning international travel may wish to apply now. For information on obtaining a U.S. Passport visit DOS online, or call 1-877-487-2778. Specific documentation requirements for land, sea and air travel may be found online. To learn more about NEXUS, SENTRI and FAST, click here.

Senator questions hiring of H-1B workers by two federal entities

Patrick Thibodeau
November 28, 2007 (Computerworld) -- The National Institutes of Health employed more than 300 H-1B workers during the federal government's 2006 fiscal year, prompting Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to ask in a letter to NIH officials why a federal agency is hiring foreign workers with temporary visas.
Grassley, a member of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary and a leading critic of the H-1B visa program, today also fired off a letter with a similar set of questions to the Federal National Mortgage Association, also known as Fannie Mae. The Washington-based lender began as a government agency before becoming a private business that operates under a congressional charter.
During fiscal 2006, which ended in September of last year, the NIH "hired or otherwise employed" 322 people through the H-1B visa program, according to Grassley. Fannie Mae had 141 H-1B workers during the same period, he wrote. Grassley said in a statement that the NIH and Fannie Mae were the only federal or government-chartered entities among the top 200 users of H-1B visas in fiscal 2006, with the NIH making the top 100.
"I'm asking questions today to find out how many taxpayer dollars are being used to recruit foreign workers and how invested our government-backed entities are in this visa program," Grassley said in a statement.
In the letters, he asked the NIH and Fannie Mae to provide an accounting of how many full- and part-time H-1B workers they have employed each year dating back to January 2002, along with the job titles of the H-1B holders.
The senator is also seeking detailed descriptions of the steps that the NIH and Fannie Mae take to hire American workers before filling jobs with H-1B holders, plus information on the number of layoffs made by the two organizations since 2002, including the job titles of affected employees.
Grassley acknowledged in the letters that the H-1B program "provides an avenue for U।S. employers to temporarily employ skilled foreign workers when the domestic workforce is unable to meet employer demands." But, he added, "this system is open to abuse and has raised concerns about whether American workers are being protected and whether H-1B employers are skirting the law in order to hire cheaper foreign labor."
The senator addressed the letters to Elias Zerhouni, the NIH's director, and Daniel Mudd, president and CEO of Fannie Mae. Grassley wrote that as a senior member of the Judiciary Committee, he has a "duty to conduct oversight" of federal entities and their immigration practices.
Grassley said he became interested in the NIH and Fannie Mae because they were among the top 200 users of H-1B visas in fiscal 2006. The NIH was No. 55, and Fannie Mae was No. 199, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. That made them the only federal or government-chartered entities on that list, Grassley said.
Officials at the NIH and Fannie Mae weren't immediately available for comment on Grassley's letters, which asked that responses to his questions be submitted by Dec. 12.
Last spring, Grassley and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) released data showing that the largest user of H-1B visas during fiscal 2006 was Bangalore, India-based offshore services provider Infosys Technologies Ltd., which received 4,908 visas. It was followed by Wipro Ltd., another Bangalore-based outsourcing firm that used 4,002 visas.
Microsoft Corp. was the third-largest H-1B user that year, with 3,117 visas, and Bill Gates, the software vendor's chairman, has been among the most vocal advocates of raising the annual cap on the number of visas that can be issued. The cap currently is 85,000, including 65,000 regular visas and 20,000 that are set aside for foreign nationals who have advanced degrees from U.S. universities.
The NIH wasn't the only public-sector agency that was a major user of H-1B visas during fiscal 2006. New York City's public school system was issued 642 visas that year, putting it in 22nd place on the list of visa users.
Grassley sent his letters to the NIH and Fannie Mae on the same day that Compete America, a lobbying group with heavy backing from IT vendors, said that it had sent a letter to Congress urging legislators to take action on a proposal to increase the H-1B cap before they adjourn for the year.
Citing an effort by the European Union to attract skilled workers with its Blue Card temporary visa program, Compete America contended that the visa system in the U.S. "should better reflect the realities" of the global economy. "At a time when other nations are aggressively taking steps to improve their own competitive position, the United States is failing to do so by sustaining a visa system that turns away future innovators," the organization said in its letter.