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JONESBORO, Ark. - A man who has spent nearly 15 years in prison after being convicted of killing three suburban Memphis boys took the stand for the first time Thursday, insisting that he was innocent and that his lawyers ignored his alibis.

A shadow legal body was set up by the Defense Department to manipulate the prosecutions of U.S. Marines accused of massacring Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. That’s the bombshell disclosure from the Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm that is representing one of the accused Marines, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani. And it could prove to be the most damning piece of evidence showing the political motivations behind the ongoing prosecutions of the Haditha Marines. “The hysteria and media firestorm over Abu Ghraib and the Pat Tillman investigations led to fear of a similar media reaction...

On the 60th anniversary of VJ-Day in 2005, Marine Capt. Randy Stone, a military lawyer serving in Iraq, became a presidential poster boy. Capt. Stone's two grandfathers fought at Iwo Jima, so President Bush, in a celebratory speech, turned the whole family into a gold-braided rhetorical flourish to depict the continuity of American character and courage from one war to another. "Captain Stone proudly wears the uniform just as his grandfathers did at Iwo Jima," said Mr. Bush. "He's guided by the same convictions they carried into battle. He shares the same willingness to serve a cause greater than himself......

The NBPC has received information that Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos was sent to a Bureau of Prisons Facility he has no business being in. The facility located in Yazoo City, Mississippi also houses a large contingent of Mexican gang members. The gang members originally were housed in Beaumont, Texas but were transferred to Yazoo City after causing disturbances in Beaumont. Each shift has only 2 Correctional Officers assigned to it, and the Mexican gang members are effectively running the prison 16 hours per day. Interviews of inmates at the facility where Agent Ramos was beaten began Tuesday evening at...

DURHAM -- Lawyers for accused Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann want a judge to hold hearings Thursday on whether to compel police and prosecutors to turn over the evidence they've compiled while investigating the alleged gang rape. The motions have to be heard now because there's a risk that evidence that could exonerate Seligmann "will spoil if not preserved properly," lawyers Kirk Osborn and Ernest Conner said. They said that could happen due to political pressure Durham officials might be putting on investigators. Seligmann's defense team

[snip] A committee said Monday that Duke University administration was slow in addressing the alleged rape involving members of the lacrosse team. It said key administrators relied too heavily on initial reports from Durham police that the alleged victim "kept changing her story and was not credible." [snip]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — A U.S. soldier was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to killing a severely wounded Iraqi teenager, the military said Saturday. Staff Sgt. Johnny M. Horne Jr., 30, of Winston-Salem, N.C., also received a reduction in rank to private, forfeiture of wages and a dishonorable discharge.[snip]The charges relate to the Aug. 18 killing of a 16-year-old Iraqi male found in a burning truck with severe abdominal wounds sustained during clashes in Baghdad's Sadr City, an impoverished neighborhood that was the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite rebels loyal to anti-U.S....

SEAL on trial Questionable handling of a questionable case By Milt Silverman October 13, 2004 In death, terrorist Manadel al-Jamadi inflicted far more damage on the United States than he ever could have hoped for in life. News reports from around the world, quoting American sources, claim al-Jamadi died as a result of a blood clot in his brain caused by a "butt stroke" inflicted by a Navy SEAL. Government spokesmen recently announced several members of SEAL Team 7 have been charged with abusing enemy prisoners. I represent one of the team's members. I am speaking on his behalf. There...

Lately, if you've been paying close attention, you will have noticed minor news coverage of two US pilots, involved in a friendly fire incident in Afghanistan, which resulted in the unfortunate deaths of four Canadian soldiers, being hung out to dry by their/our own US government. U.S. Air Force Pilots Charged Criminal charges have been brought against two U.S. Air Force pilots responsible for the friendly fire bombing of Canadians in Afghanistan in April 2002. Four Canadian soldiers were killed and eight others injured when a U.S. F-16 fighter jet dropped a bomb on the Canadian soldiers who were on...

There are two resolutions concerning "Jimmy the Rugless" on the AFP's new website: Resolution of Invitation to Rep. James A. Traficant, Jr. and Resolution of Outrage at the Jailing of Congressman James A. Traficant Resolution of Invitation to Rep. James A. Traficant, Jr. (Adopted by unanimous vote of the America First National Committee on June 26, 2002) Whereas, James A. Traficant, Jr., a uniquely independent member of the US House of Representatives from the state of Ohio, promotes in both word and deed public policies supported by the membership of the America First Party and enunciated in the Principles of...