Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defended military interrogation techniques in Iraq (news - web sites) on Wednesday, rejecting complaints that they violate international rules and may endanger Americans taken prisoner. Rumsfeld told a Senate committee that Pentagon (news - web sites) lawyers had approved methods such as sleep deprivation and dietary changes as well as rules permitting prisoners to be made to assume stress positions. Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also noted that the rules require prisoners to be treated humanely at all times. But Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill. said some of the...

Utah's controversial firing squad may be doomed. "Essentially, we're going to discuss the repeal of the firing squad" during a meeting today of the state Sentencing Commission, says executive director Ron Gordon. Gordon has conducted a study that examines different methods of execution and the question of who decides on which method to employ — the Legislature or the condemned person.Lt. Jeff Meyers points to restraints used on prisoners in the firing-squad chair at the Utah State Prison. A new Deseret Morning News-KSL poll found that while 45 percent of Utahns still favor the firing squad, 51 percent believe it...

RIVERSIDE, Calif.(AP) - California's outgoing education chief is attempting to crack down on parents who home school their children on their own by exploiting a loophole in the state's education code. Under California law, students who do not attend public schools can only be educated three ways: by enrolling in a private school, learning at home from parents guided by a credentialed teacher, or being taught by a credentialed tutor. Many home-schooling families, however, have found a way around those requirements. Knowing that private schools do not require their teachers to be credentialed, some parents have declared their homes to...