The Obama administration will ask the Supreme Court to reconsider a 1986 ruling that police officers cannot question a defendant with representation unless the lawyer is present. In a court brief, the solicitor general said that the decision in Michigan v. Jackson should be overturned because it “serves no real purpose” and defendants should speak to police if they so choose. The judges supporting the ruling say it is especially aimed at poor or developmentally disabled defendants who could be tricked into giving incriminating information to prosecutors without a lawyer present. In the aftermath of the administration’s invocation of the “state secrets” privilege, and support for the imprisonment of enemy combatants in Afghanistan, this position has further alienated civil liberties groups. (AP)
In what would be the first release of Guantanamo detainees within the U.S., the Obama administration hopes to release seven Chinese Muslims who have been held for seven years without charges. The Uighurs are no longer classified as “enemy combatants,” but U.S. officials have opposed releasing them to China, where some fear they would be mistreated. There are 17 total Uighurs currently held at Gitmo, but other countries have been resistant to welcoming the former suspected terrorists upon their release. A U.S. official told the LA Times that the release of some of the Uighurs within the U.S. could make those countries reconsider. President Obama has pledged to release all 250 Gitmo prisoners within the year. (LA Times)
Investors with Bernard Madoff’s companies who reported a net loss in his multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme will not be asked to return funds withdrawn in recent years to repay other victims of the scam, the lawyer assigned to recover Madoff’s assets said Thursday. In past months, Irving Picard has asked investors with Madoff firms to return funds redeemed before the scam was uncovered, but lawyers for these investors said these orders were insensitive to “net losers.” The Wall Street Journal reports that this decision likely means that Picard won’t recoup the $735 million requested last week from 223 investors. (Wall Street Journal)
The fallout from Madoff’s Ponzi scheme led to the indictment Thursday of a New York hedge fund manager charged with cheating his investors out of $150 million. Authorities say that James Nicholson was arrested and charged on February 25 after many investors, spooked by the Madoff saga, asked simultaneously to remove their money. Nicholson, who has been unable to meet bail requests, is accused of telling investors that he had $600-$900 million in assets on hand though very few of his funds were liquid. In the four-count indictment, the government seeks $150 million in assets, spread between properties, a private jet, and a license for club seats in the new New York Jets stadium. (Reuters)
New York’s state ethics agency will review requests to investigate confidential leaks by Gov. Paterson’s office pertaining to Caroline Kennedy’s bid for Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat. In a letter to state ethics officials, three government watchdog groups ask the Commission on Public Integrity to determine whether Paterson’s office intentionally leaked information about Kennedy, in violation of state laws, to deflect blame for her withdrawal. A spokesman for one of the watchdog groups questioned whether the Commission, whose chair is appointed by the governor, could “enforce the law without fear or favor.” (New York Times)
The state of California sued Wells Fargo today for allegedly selling $1.5 billion worth of risky investments while telling clients that the securities were as safe as cash. State Attorney General Jerry Brown told the LA Times that Wells Fargo told customers that they could have investments returned within eight days, but that it “turns out they were not like cash and people can’t get their money back after many, many months, and they’re mad as hell.” Brown’s office said the securities implicated in this lawsuit are not connected to the $1.5 billion that the Wells Fargo-owned Wachovia Corp. agreed to repurchase from investors in a settlement with regulators last month. (LA Times)
