I am really quite nervous to be hosting Blawg Review #279.  It’s sort of a big deal.   I read Blawg Review pretty regularly and I know that people who wouldn’t otherwise stop by Not Guilty’s little spot on the blogosphere might do so.  I was thinking of sprucing the place up a bit, maybe not using the ‘f’ word at all and using some more formal language, proper grammar and whatnot.  But that would just be false advertising and bait and switch and price fixing.  Then folks would come back next week and be like “What the fuck? She was so civilized last week.” So, here you have it. Welcome to Blawg Review #279.  I am pleased to be your host.

PART I – The Day

 Today, August 30, 2010, commemorates the International Day of the Disappeared.  I started college as a political science major with a pretty heavy emphasis on Latin America, so I was familiar with the day as it related to Peru and Costa Rica and the enforced disappearance of young men there.  Since that time, there have been wars aplenty where enforced disappearances of civilians are just another military tactic.  The numbers of the missing soldiers and civilians during the Iran-Iraq conflict is staggering.  The International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances is spearheading the movement to get nations to sign and ratify the Convention Against Enforced Disappearances.  FYI, neither the United States nor Canada has signed or ratified the Convention.  I haven’t read the document, and there may be very good reason why we wouldn’t sign. Like, we actually think it’s ok to conduct enforced disappearances.  No. That can’t possibly be the case, can it?

 As a child, I knew about the disappearances of loved ones in Afghanistan who were taken and tortured by the Soviets, or sent for re-education in the U.S.S.R.  I watched the movie the Winds of War about World War II. There was a scene where the Nazi’s took old men, women, mothers and children and put them in a ditch and then shot them.  I sat stunned.  I cried.  I asked my mother “did they really do that?” She said “they are doing that in Afghanistan right now.”  We think my great uncle was dropped out of an airplane alive by the Soviets.  We do not know.  He disappeared.

Who would have thought that years later, it would be none other than the United States conducting similar missions on those same Afghans who helped the U.S. win the Cold War.  We are familiar with Guantanamo Bay and the fact that the detainees have been held for years without charges , we know about the secret prisons at Bagram Air Force Base in Kabul.  And hopefully, most readers know that Obama has said it’s okay for the CIA to continue their missions of kidnapping people and sending them to third countries for interrogation, a practice called rendition.  Obama pledges ‘rendition light‘ – NOW with more oversight!  I know that it didn’t start with Obama and that our secret rendition program has been going on for years (decades probably)., but he was to be the Change We Could Believe In.  Sorry, I just expected more.  (The agents discussed in the secret rendition link just before this sentence were convicted in Italy in 2009.  See the follow up story here.)  Also, be aware that if you are secretly kidnapped and tortured, and it was all a big mistake, you can’t expect monetary compensation from the United States.  In fact, you can’t even expect an apology.

 Before you move on to section two, I invite you to view this video of a woman in Nepal whose husband was kidnapped, tortured and then killed by Maoists.  She thinks. She doesn’t know.  He has just disappeared.

Part II – Children in Prison – the Disappearance of Reason.

Omar Khadr was 15 when he was picked up in Kabul, Afghanistan and charged with throwing a grenade at an American soldier.  He is now 23 and ready to start trial before a military tribunal.  The President says he is concerned that this is the first trial in the revamped tribunal because, um, it sucks? Maybe? A little. Because Mr. Kahdr was a child, living in Afghanistan.  A child who never knew a day of peace. Wait. This is blawg review. Let’s see who else has something to say about this.

Jeffrey Kaye is a psychologist who has been writing for the Daily Kos since 2005.  He writes his own blog as well, Invictus, which featured the letter from Mr. Khadr to his lawyer.  The words are heart-wrenching.  You can hear a young, scared boy writing them.  They are not the words of a terrible terrorist.  Norm Pattis had questions for the prosecutors of young Omar.  The questions boil down to this – why are we trying children in military courts.  And New Media and Politics Canada calls out the government of Canada for it’s role in this travesty. The Courts just ruled that Khadr’s statements, which were the product of threats of gang rape and torture could be admitted against him at trial.  It ruled that it was preposterous that he would admit to anything at all just to keep from getting gang raped. Don’t you agree? I hope not. Not if you’re reading notguilty by choice.

But we try children as adults all the time, so there is probably nothing too shocking for us about trying a 15 year old in a military court.  We try 11 year olds as adults.  Have you seen an 11 year old? Have you talked to one? Do you think they are mentally the equivalent of an 18 year old?  At least we can rest easy that earlier this year, the Supreme Court determined that juveniles who were not convicted of murder could not spend the rest of their lives in prison.  For a wonderful synopsis of the case, head over to Jeff Gamso’s Gamso for the Defense.  I mean, he’s a criminal defense lawyer, so don’t expect a fair and balanced overview.  We think it’s a good thing to let children pay their price, get rehabilitated, and then grow up.

Part III – The Disappearance of Civility – How the Internet Lets you Be a Douche.

Keith Lee had a fabulous piece this week entitled “Think People are too negative online, welcome to the Internet.”  In it he outlines the “greater internet fuckwad theory” which simply states that people are so much cooler online. That is that people will say really mean dumb shit if they are allowed to do so anonymously.  On that same day (the day before my birthday, I might add), Scott Greenfield posted about all of the positive energy on twitter and how it made the whole experience rather shallow. Shallow? How can one possibly consider 140 characters shallow?  And leave it to Mr. Greenfield to be annoyed at all the rah rah’ing and go teaming! going on.  Mr. Greenfield also gave some juice to the ‘greater internet fuckwad theory’ in a post talking about anonymity as it relates to a group of law bloggers that don’t think anonymity is necessary or good – until they want to ramp up the their fuckwad quotient on the internet.  I dig the greater internet fuckwad theory because I think it’s true.  The internet gives people who would otherwise be anti-social mumbling idiots free reign to write, rewrite, delete and perfect whatever shit for brains comments they want to make.

Let’s take, for example, a wonderful post written by Brian Tannebaum about the core of a criminal defense lawyer.  If you scroll through the comments you will see one written by yours truly, and one by Anonymous, who I then call dickwad.  Here’s a question: if Anonymous is so sure about what he’s saying, why not use his real name?  He knows this is a criminal defense lawyer’s blog.  He knows he will get trounced by the rest of us if he uses his name, so he figures that since he is allowed to leave an anonymous comment and be a dickwad (fuckwad to use the correct terminology) he will do so and escape all of our wrath.  Hey Anonymous, our wrath doesn’t care what your name is.  Anonymous then, came back for more after Brian’s second post on the Stale Anonymous Argument for and against defense attorneys.  If I wasn’t so busy writing this, I’d be back over there giving anonymous what for.  But see, the greater internet fuckwad theory doesn’t apply to me.  Since I’ve got a picture and you all know who I am.   (By the way, I know many people think that Tannebaum is uncivil in his dealings with some people online. I had dinner with the man. You may not believe this, but he is one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever met. And I hate everybody. Except on my blog.  Here, everyone gets a balloon.)

I could go on and  on in this week’s Blawg Review.  The legal blogs and the information superhighway sure has changed since I lasted co-hosted.  I’m glad to have been able to do it again. Thanks for visiting.

Next week’s Blawg Review is hosted by Ron Coleman’s Likelihood of Confusion.  Check it out. You might learn something.

Blawg Review has information about next week’s host, and instructions how to get your blawg posts reviewed in upcoming issues.