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A defiant Rev. Al Sharpton today responded to media reports that he served as an FBI informant against mob bosses in the 1980s, confirming that he recorded conversations, but insisting the reports missed the mark. Speaking at a hastily-called press conference at the National Action Network’s headquarters in Harlem, Mr. Sharpton took special issue with the “informant” characterization. The front pages of the New York Post and Daily News today labeled the reverend a “rat” and a “mob snitch.”

INDIANAPOLIS – An American-born Taliban fighter imprisoned in Indiana will try to convince a federal judge that his religious freedom trumps security concerns in a closely watched trial that will examine how far prisons can go to ensure security in the age of terrorism. John Walker Lindh was expected to testify Monday in Indianapolis during the first day of the trial over prayer policies

  Let Kids Find Their Own Path? Removing the Guardrails From Their Road David C. Stolinsky Aug. 18, 2011 While paging through Facebook recently, I came across a 13-year-old girl who declared that she was married to her girlfriend, whom she named. She didn’t say she planned to marry her friend when they grow older, but that she already was married. When I mentioned this to friends, they merely shrugged and asked what the problem was. ● The problem is not the girl’s sexual orientation. That is her business and no one else’s. ● The problem is lack of...

American Taliban John Walker Lindh's father wrote this piece in the Sunday New York Times. Frank Lindh writes that his son was apprehended "unarmed and wounded." He also writes that his son "had no involvement with terrorism." Item: In a statement of fact signed by Lindh and his attorneys, John Walker Lindh stipulates 6. In or about late May or June 2001, the defendant agreed to attend a training camp for additional and extensive military training. In or about June 2001, the defendant traveled to the al-Farooq training camp, a facility associated with Usama Bin Laden, located several hours west...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and another Muslim inmate have asked a judge to order a federal prison to allow them and other Muslims in their highly restricted cell block to pray as a group, in accordance with their beliefs. The American Civil Liberties Union last Thursday filed a motion in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis for summary judgment on behalf of Lindh, 29, and Enaam Arnaout, 47, who claim that the prison's policy restricting group prayer in the Communications Management Unit violates their religious rights....

Tony West, a high-powered San Francisco lawyer whose clients have ranged from corporate giants to "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh, has been nominated by President Obama as an assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department's Civil Division. West, 43, an Oakland resident, met Obama in 2004 at the Democratic National Convention and was one of his finance co-chairs in California last year, when the campaign raised a record $65 million in the state. A graduate of Harvard University and Stanford Law School, West worked as a Justice Department attorney under President Bill Clinton, a federal prosecutor in San...

If it's December, it's time for the left to throw another shameless pity party for convicted American jihadist John Walker Lindh (aka Suleyman al-Faris, aka Abdul Hamid). Every Christmas season for the past four years, the Taliban accomplice and his parents have asked President Bush to pardon him. This country should save its tears and mercy for the defenders of freedom. The farther we move from the September 11 attacks, the cloudier our collective memory of Lindh's case becomes. Sympathetic journalists have rewritten the history, embracing him as a naive young hippie-dippie from Marin County, Calif., who was just caught...

San Francisco, CA (AP) -- The parents of American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh are asking President George W. Bush to set their son free before Bush leaves office next month.

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Some high-profile convicts past and present are among more than 2,000 people asking President George W. Bush to pardon them or commute their prison sentences before he leaves office. Junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black and American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh have applied to the Justice Department seeking official forgiveness.

He's a gentle man, lean and soft-spoken, careful to begin his lecture with an explanation of principles like the right to counsel. The passion in Frank Lindh builds only when he describes the details of what happened to his son, John Walker Lindh, the bearded young man who was tagged as the American Taliban. In the waning days of George Bush's administration, the senior Lindh is asking the president to commute the rest of his son's 20-year sentence, now seven years along. It's almost certainly a hopeless quest. Bush is not a man prone to second-guess himself. ... In retrospect,...

The father of John Walker Lindh, who has spent nearly seven years in federal prison for serving in an Afghan army, told a room full of law students at University of San Francisco on Wednesday his son has been used as a scapegoat for the faults of the U.S. government. Frank Lindh of Marin County spoke for the fourth consecutive year about how he believes U.S. troops in northern Afghanistan in 2001 illegitimately captured his son, known as an "American Taliban," for fighting as a Taliban soldier just after the Sept. 11 attacks. Frank Lindh said he believes his son...

John Walker Lindh's lawyers and parents appealed to President Bush for the fourth time Tuesday to commute the Marin County man's 20-year prison sentence for aiding the Taliban in 2001, saying the nation has grown less fearful since then and that others convicted of similar charges have been treated more leniently. "John Lindh had no involvement whatsoever in terrorism or criminal activity," his mother, Marilyn Walker, said at a news conference.... "Others have received a lot less in the way of a sentence even when they were convicted of a lot more," the lawyer said. Bush has not responded to...

The concept of mercy spans testaments and faiths, and any system of justice requires the embrace of mercy for leavening and legitimacy. In this case, justice has been served by Lindh's time in prison. Now Bush is uniquely positioned to grant mercy, for while many will long argue over the effectiveness of his war on terror, none question his commitment to it. By giving Lindh a commutation, Bush could prove that his war is, as he often and properly asserts, not against Islam but against those who seek to harm America. Lindh never sought to harm his country; he has...

They Dare Call It Treason SPA (Finally)By Henry Mark HolzerFrontPageMagazine.com | October 13, 2006 In a stunning reversal of United States policy that has been in place since the end of World War II, turncoat citizen Adam Gadahn has been indicted for the constitutional crime of treason. (The second count of the indictment charges him with the crime of providing material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.) Eight treason indictments and convictions of Americans came out of World War II. One resulted from mistreatment of prisoners of war held in Japan. Two arose from spying activities in the United...

Fairfax officials will vote Wednesday on whether to endorse a local petition calling for the impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Millie Barrett, a 33-year town resident, said she has collected more than 200 signatures since Thursday. Getting the council involved gives the petition legitimacy and makes it more likely to be considered by federal officials, she said. "I want people to jump on the wagon and do it," she said. "Maybe someone in Congress will listen." Barrett, 62, said she dove into progressive politics after retiring last July. She said she has signed every anti-Bush...

I bring you my boo-freakin'-hoo moment of the day, courtesy of Esquire writer Tom Junod's nauseating profile of John Walker Lindh a/k/a "Suleyman al-Faris" a/k/a "Abdul Hamid a/k/a "Hamza." Junod laments an order forbidding Lindh/al-Faris/Hamid/Hamza from speaking Arabic and describes his typical day in prison: At seven o'clock in the morning he goes to work in the library. It is not a job that most other inmates want, but it suits Hamza, because all Hamza does is read and study. He reads and studies so much that people have to stop him from reading and studying, and sometimes his only...

Frank Lindh is on a campaign to gain clemency for his son, John Walker Lindh, a.k.a Johnny Jihad or (my favorite nickname, courtesy of Michael Savage) Ratboy. And he has the Marin Independent Journal giving him a helping hand. It all started in November, when the IJ ran a front page feature on the traitor by Beth Ashley, the Lifestyles writer. Her article told how Ratboy was bound by duct tape to a stretcher, with a bullet wound which remained untreated for a couple of days. Her story also contained discussions with his lawyers, who are trying to get the...

SAN FRANCISCO: The father of an American jailed for fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan said on Thursday his son had been tortured and unjustly punished amid public hysteria over the Sept. 11 attacks. “The maltreatment and imprisonment of John Lindh was - and is - a human rights violation,” Frank Lindh told the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. “It was based purely on an emotional response to the 9/11 attacks, not on an objective assessment of the facts of John’s case.” A 24-year-old Californian dubbed the “American Taliban,” John Walker Lindh was captured in 2001 and jailed for 20...

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh asked President Bush on Thursday to grant clemency to his son, who he says was wrongly maligned as a traitor and murderer. "In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh, swallowing back tears at times during a speech at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization. Frank Lindh said that although his son had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, they ended up adding dire consequences to...

'American Taliban' Father Urges Clemency Jan 19 5:33 PM US/Eastern By MARTHA MENDOZA AP National Writer SAN FRANCISCO After years of silence, the father of American-born Taliban soldier John Walker Lindh said Thursday he has asked President Bush to grant his son clemency, adding that the then teenager never raised arms against the United States. "In simple terms, this is the story of a decent and honorable young man embarked on a spiritual quest," said Frank Lindh, swallowing back tears at times during a speech at the Commonwealth Club, a nonprofit organization. John Walker Lindh, now 24, was captured by...