. . . looks at why so many drug cops go bad.

• Hugo Chavez says capitalism destroyed life on Mars. It’s actually worse than that. Capitalism also inexplicably given us the music of Bruno Mars.
• Terrific photos from India and Pakistan, where they’re celebrating Holi, the festival of colors.
• Smithsonian magazine looks at presidential power.
• Self promotion: I have a couple articles excerpted in the Washington Times and Utne Reader.
• Puppycide in Gulfport, Mississippi. The dog was also tied up.
• The guy who prosecuted Paris Hilton for possessing cocaine has been arrested for . . . trying to buy cocaine.
• Washington, D.C.’s two chief exports: Lies and war.

. . . although if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you probably already know by now.

In May, I’ll be leaving Reason to work as a crime reporter for the Huffington Post. As you may know, AOL bought Huffington Post several months ago, and they’re hiring a ton of great people to build out a serious journalism program. I’ll be working with some really talented folks, like (former Agitator guest blogger) Ryan Grim, and Peter Goodman and Tim O’Brien, who came over from the New York Times. I’ll be covering the same beat I do now, only with a much bigger platform, and with the resources to delve into bigger, more in-depth projects.

So what does all this mean for the blog? Come May, The Agitator will be hosted over at Huffington Post. I’ll continue to blog here daily, and I’ve been assured that there will be no content restrictions or editorial control over what I post. The blog will likely look a little different (I imagine there will be more ads), and the comments section will probably be a bit more crowded, but otherwise, things here will stay the same. So I hope you’ll all keep reading.

The really cool part is that my Nashville Blog (which I’ve been neglecting) will be hosted on AOL’s music site. Which means that blogging there will now be part of my job, and my 300 readers per day at that site will increase by a magnitude of . . . well, a hell of a lot. I’m thinking that will allow me to access and interview some pretty cool people in the music scene here. And maybe have some of them give concerts from my living room. Yes, that also means I’ll continue to live in Nashville.

I’ll be leaving Reason with nothing but fond feelings for my colleagues and admiration of the great work they do. I’m biased of course, but I think it’s the most provocative, interesting, intellectually honest opinion magazine on the newsstand. For all of the vilification of the Koch brothers over the last few months, if it weren’t for the Cato Institute and Reason Foundation (both are Koch-funded, though neither is nearly as dependent on Koch as all of this recent nonsense would suggest), I wouldn’t be in a position to get a great opportunity like this. Were it not for Reason and Cato, it’s likely that few people outside the state of Mississippi would know the name Cory Maye—or for that matter, Steven Hayne—and I would never have had the opportunity to write the stories I write, and to bring some attention to the issues I cover.

So I guess I’ll close this post announcing that I’ll be leaving the libertarian “movement”, at least as a full-time employee, with a warm thanks to Nick Gillespie (who hired me at Reason), Matt Welch, David Nott, and all the other supportive people at the Reason Foundation and at Reason magazine. Thank-yous also to Ed Crane, David Boaz, and Gene Healy at Cato, all of whom first gave me the unbelievable opportunity to actually make a living writing about issues that I think are important.

I’m very excited about what’s happening at the revamped Huffington Post. I hope you’ll all follow me over there, and continue the lively, interesting, viewpoint-diverse comments discussions we have here on a daily basis.

From a New York Times editorial today:

Douglas Warney, a person of limited mental capabilities who has been diagnosed with AIDS and AIDS dementia, served nine years in New York State prisons for a murder he did not commit. Now the state is seeking to compound the injustice by denying Mr. Warney compensation, even though there is a state law to provide redress for people who are wrongly convicted…

New York State has primarily argued, and lower state courts have rashly agreed, that Mr. Warney’s false confession makes him ineligible for compensation because the Unjust Conviction and Imprisonment Act bars recovery for those whose own misconduct caused their conviction.

That limit was meant to weed out deliberate misconduct to gain some tactical advantage, say a confession intended to conceal a loved one’s guilt. Mr. Warney’s false confession was not the product of misconduct. It was the reaction of a particularly susceptible individual to common police interrogation techniques that sometimes cause innocent people to confess. That phenomenon was illuminated in a friend-of-the-court brief filed by the American Psychological Association…

If there was misconduct in Mr. Warney’s case, it was on the part of police officers, who fed him “held back” facts about the murder and then claimed those facts in his typed confession originated with him, providing reliable proof of his guilt.

This is a common stipulation in state laws that allow compensation for the wrongly convicted. If you confessed to a crime you didn’t commit you’re unlikely to be compensated, even if the confession was beaten or manipulated out of you. To understand how something like this can happen, even among well-intentioned police officers, I recommend this 2008 L.A. Times op-ed by D.C. Detective Jim Trainium, in which Trainium describes how he was was floored to discover that not only had a woman he interrogated falsely confessed to a murder, but that Trainium himself had unknowingly fed the woman details about the killing.

Commenting on the Warney case, New York defense attorney Scott Greenfield notes that the courts have long endorsed the practice of lying to suspects to obtain confessions:

If the police are not merely entitled to lie, cheat and steal to get their guy, but encouraged to do so, then there’s a perverse logic in the state’s argument against Warney’s claim.  Why blame the cops for manipulating a mentally challenged person into confessing when truth and honesty play no role in their job?  They got a man to confess.  That’s what we pay them to do.  That’s what the courts tell them to do.  Nobody made Warney confess, as the state now argues, provided there’s nothing wrong with manipulating the innocent into falsely confessing.

The courts can’t have it both ways.  It’s time to jump off that slippery slope of encouraging law enforcement deceit if they can’t embrace the natural outcome.

At the very least, all police interrogations need to be videotaped.

From McClatchy:

For nearly three years, the military held the key to Roger House’s exoneration and didn’t tell him: A forensics examiner had botched a crucial lab test used in the Navy lieutenant’s court-martial.

In fact, the military had begun second-guessing a decade’s worth of tests conducted by its one-time star lab analyst, Phillip Mills.

Investigators discovered that Mills had cut corners and even falsified reports in one case. He found DNA where it didn’t exist, and failed to find it where it did. His mistakes may have let the guilty go free while the innocent, such as House, were convicted…

But the problem was bigger than just a lone analyst.

While a McClatchy investigation revealed that Mills’ mistakes undermined hundreds of criminal cases brought against military personnel, it also found that the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory, near Atlanta, was lax in supervising Mills, slow to re-examine his work and slipshod about informing defendants. Officials appeared intent on containing the scandal that threatened to discredit the military’s most important forensics facility, which handles more than 3,000 criminal cases a year.

The military has never publicly acknowledged the extent of Mills’ mistakes nor the lab’s culpability. McClatchy pieced together the untold story by conducting dozens of interviews and reviewing internal investigations, transcripts and other documents.

That sounds about right. When the FBI was informed by the National Academy of Sciences a few years ago that the lead-composition tests it has used for decades was based on flawed science, the agency stopped using the tests, but also declined to inform the thousands of defendants who had been convicted based on the evidence.

My column last week discussed ways to reform the forensics system.

• There seems to be a building consensus among the U.K.’s political class that the war on drugs has failed.
• Speaking of which, here’s a story about a U.K. couple who have had their house wrongly raided more than 40 times.
• Michigan Supreme Court sides with Dr. Dre, says police officers recorded backstage at one of his concerts had no expectation of privacy.
• In ten years . . .
• Pedal steel legend Ralph Mooney, RIP.
• Here’s another Obama administration official who has apparently reneged on his view of the executive’s power to wage war.
• Restaurant owner, witnesses say a D.C. internal affairs cop intentionally hit him with his car several times. They say the cop and responding officers then laughed at him when he tried to file a complaint.

I picked up the new Canon EOS Rebel T3i last week. Wow, is it a beautiful camera. So far I’ve noticed the biggest difference while shooting at concerts, where the expanded ISO (it goes up to 6400, expandable to 12,800) gives you more room to zoom without losing shutter speed. I’ll post a few shots from recent shows later this week. For now, here are some photos from the dog park.

• Sen. Barack Obama: “The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.”
• Not sure about the source here, but Minnesota legislators are apparently considering a law that would make it criminal for people on public assistance to carry cash.
• James O’Keefe bars spectators from recording his speech.
• This week in government regulation . . .
• Town of Aurora, Illinois won’t be held in contempt for refusing to turn over money seized in a forfeiture case. A judge had ordered the town to give the money back.

I’m flying back to D.C. this afternoon, so there will likely be no more blogging today. Please, do chat amongst yourselves.

• The Zoopreme Court.
• Medical marijuana shop inadvertently violates zoning ordinance. So naturally the city sent the SWAT team.
• More skepticism of Shaken Baby Syndrome convictions.
• Interesting post on a wrinkle and possible double standard with the onerous Illinois wiretapping law. I don’t have the law in front of me at the moment (I’m at the airport, WiFi is spotty), but I believe there’s an exception for people who reasonably believe they’re recording criminal activity. The problem of course is that if that you can’t use video to show you weren’t doing anything criminal. And if you record on-duty cops engaging in activity you think is criminal, you do so at risk of getting hit with a felony charge.
• Feds tell local school officials they should be monitoring their students on Facebook.
• DOJ investigation finds lots of problems with the New Orleans Police Department.
• Headline of the day.
• Nassau County, New York to pay for retesting in 3,000 drug cases possibly corrupted by faulty crime lab.
• Just a Friendly Reminder: Please Shut the Hell Up.

“Low Rising” by Swell Season.

Well, sort of. There’s a fascinating fight unfolding between the DEA, the European Union, and several state law enforcement agencies over sodium thiopental, the drug used by many states in their lethal injection regimen. The European Union issued a declaration against the death penalty 2008, calling for its worldwide abolition.

Since the declaration, countries like the U.K. and Germany have either prohibited or put up regulaory barriers  to prevent pharmaceutical companies from exporting the drug to the U.S. for use in state executions. Hospira, the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, recently stopped making the drug after Italy nixed the company’s plans to open a manufacturing plant there.

All of which means states are running in short supply of the drug. And there are executions to be . . . er . . . executed. So many U.S. states are doing what the rest of us do when government policy makes it difficult to get the drugs we want legally: They’re buying the stuff on the black market.

Enter the DEA:

U.S. authorities seized Georgia’s supply of a drug used in executions on Tuesday because of concerns about how it was imported, a move praised by death penalty opponents.

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents took control of the state’s sodium thiopental, a sedative that attorneys for several death row inmates have said was improperly obtained.

“We commend the DEA for forcing the Department of Corrections to stop using black market execution drugs,” said Sara Totonchi, executive director of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta.

Authorities offered few details about the motive for the seizure except to say there were questions about how the state had obtained the drug.

“DEA became aware of this situation today,” Special Agent Chuvalo J. Truesdell said. “We took control of the controlled substances, and it’s now a regulatory matter.”

He declined further comment because of the ongoing investigation.

No word if the DEA sent the SWAT team. But I do look forward to the feds’ attempt to seize the entire Georgia Department of Corrections under federal asset forfeiture law.

• Great piece by my colleague Jesse Walker on lessons from Japan. The bit about how people generally react after disasters (that is, markedly better than the media would have you believe) can’t be repeated enough.
• For the first time in 16 years, Mississippi has a state medical examiner.
• Reason.tv interviews Rand Paul.
• Life expectancy in the U.S. again hits an all-time high.
• Headline of the day.
• New York City spends $75 million per year arresting people for pot possession, even though pot for personal use has been decriminalized in the city.

In D.C.:

An 86-year-old D.C. man got a surprise visit earlier this month. Robert Smith heard someone banging on his apartment door on Randolph Street on the evening of March 4. But before he could unlock it, a group of D.C. Police officers battered the door down and knocked Smith onto the floor.

Smith said officers quickly realized they had the wrong apartment and called for an ambulance. Doctors treated Smith for contusions to his head and back.

“There’s a half million people in this city, so why did they have to pick on me?” Smith told FOX 5.

The retired federal government worker has lived alone in the same apartment for more than 30 years and said police never offered an apology for the mistaken raid.

FOX 5 viewed the search warrant which stated police were looking for marijuana, drug paraphernalia and anything related to drug trafficking.

The Director of Communications for the Metropolitan Police Department, Gwendolyn Crump, e-mailed FOX 5 saying that “The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating this matter.”

Blow to free speech number one: Man faces 15-year prison term for urging online strangers to commit suicide. Yes, he’s an asshole. No, he shouldn’t go to prison.

Blow to free speech number two: This one is more troubling, even though it’s a civil case. A Minnesota blogger has been ordered to pay $60,000 in damages for writing about links between a public figure and a mortgage fraud. The problem: What the blogger wrote was true, so this wasn’t a libel case. Instead, it was a “tortious interference” tort, brought because the blogger’s reporting got the guy fired from his job with the University of Minnesota.

• From the comments: Why is there no looting in Japan?
• Here’s another lawsuit against the Illinois wiretapping law by a man who recorded a traffic stop after having had previous problems with police. Note that though the law prevents recording anyone in public without their permission, it’s nearly always enforced against people who record the police.
• Ridiculous Obama criticism of the day. The same sort of criticism was often levied against Bush. I’m generally of the opinion that it’s a good thing when the president does as little as possible. But even beyond that, I’d think you’d want the president to find time to rest, relax, and recreate. Especially in times of crisis.
• Jack Shafer defends Gilbert Gottfried. I agree.
• School officials mistake girl’s flu symptoms for drug use.
• Local news station hires a cop to deliver the nightly crime report.

Yesterday I pointed to Portland’s pending ban on perfumes and colognes in city buildings, and noted that this is how bans on smoking in all public places began.

Your turn, Nevada:

Critics say a Nevada bill banning air fresheners and candles in public places would lead to stinky rooms and prohibit priests from using candles in Mass.

Las Vegas Democratic Assemblyman Paul Aizley on Monday presented AB234, which sets restrictions on pesticides, fragrances and candles to accommodate people with chemical sensitivities. Proponents said air fresheners give them migraines or asthma attacks and prevent them from going to the movies or to restaurants. A cocktail waitress at a casino said inhaling the fragrances piped through the ventilation system felt like a concrete slab on her chest.

Critics counter AB234 would affect everything from candlelit restaurants and weddings — not to mention unmasked odors in public bathrooms that would drive away tourists.

Who’d have thought that Malawi would be a public policy trend setter?

Reason is up for seven “Maggie” awards this year, including “Best Magazine” for our November issue.

I’m a finalist in three categories: regularly featured web column (my weekly crime column), best web article, and best feature article.

More details here.

• A nuclear catastrophe is looming in Japan.
• Connecticut considering tougher sanctions for using a cell phone while driving, including letting cops take your phone for 48 hours, suspending your license, and up to three months in prison.
• D.C. residents out thousands of dollars after city reneges on promise to reimburse them for installing solar panels.
• Judge keeps city of Portland on the hook in lawsuit against road raging off-duty cop.
• Via commenter John Jenkins, Etsy exposes its users’ purchases to the world. Article includes the unlikely phrase “artisan dildos”.

The entire Reason cover package on the Tucson shootings is now available online.

My contribution, “The Deadliest Rhetoric,” is here.

Back when I lived in D.C. and we were fighting the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, we used the reductio argument that many of our opponents’ arguments would also support a ban on people wearing perfume or cologne.

We need to stop giving the Nanny Statists ideas.

The Portland City Council approved a proposal Wednesday to make all city offices fragrance-free.The policy is designed to protect employees with health issues, such as asthma.This means all workers will be asked to not wear cologne, perfume, aftershave or other scented products like hair sprays and lotion.Employees can now face disciplinary action for wearing too much scent.

This is just in city offices. But that’s generally how the smoking bans started, too.

Speaking of which, here’s a pretty righteous rant against the ant-smoking activists’ latest crusade—R-ratings for movies that depict smoking. My favorite line:

Well, this is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. Counting up every instance of smoking in every film ever made and comparing them to each other? I’m sure as Kori Titus lays on her deathbed (with her pristine lungs intact), she will turn to her children, and say with her dying words, “My only regret is that I didn’t count more instances of smoking in popular culture.”

Last week, I put up a morning link about how Queens, NYC District Attorney Richard Brown may be systematically undermining the Miranda rights of indigent suspects. New York criminal defense attorney Scott Greenfield has actually been covering this story for several months at his blog, Simple Justice. His posts, order:

• Miranda Warnings, Queens Version
• Too Many Judges
• Former COA Judge Bellacosa on Ethics: Wanna Rumble?

That last post is particularly juicy. It isn’t often that you get to see a former judge ask another judge if he wants to take it outside.

. . . looks at recent efforts to reform the forensics system. My argument: They’re welcome, but they fail to address the underlying problems of cognitive bias and perverse incentives.

Reader Michael Keferl, who lives in Tokyo, sends some heartening getting-back-to-normal photos from around the city.