Nota Bene

Yahoo! Tech reports:

Miffed that, if you return home from travel overseas, U.S. Customs can decide to search, and even seize, all the files on your computer, your camera, and even your cell phone? So is Senator Russ Feingold, who opened Congressional hearings on the matter last week with a scathing indictment on the practice.

In Feingold’s published opening remarks *** he begins by saying that most Americans are probably not even aware that the practice is now commonplace here. In fact, it’s been going on for at least two years; a full seven percent of business travelers now report having electronic equipment seized at the border.

The New York Times has more here.

The AP reports:

Convicted killer Scott Peterson will be heading to trial again over the death of his pregnant wife, this time in civil court. The parents of Laci Peterson have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against him, seeking a multimillion-dollar judgment. A Stanislaus County Superior Court judge ruled Friday that Peterson would have to stand trial in the civil case.

The AP reports:

The California Senate on Thursday voted to ban helium-filled metallic balloons because they too frequently fly away and get tangled in electrical lines. That has caused hundreds of power outages in recent years and led to costly repairs for utilities.

Starting in 2010, anyone caught selling the popular party supplies faces a $100 fine under a bill the Senate sent to the state Assembly.

Sen. Jack Scott, D-Altadena, says the balloons are a growing cause of outages when they break free and cause power lines to arc.

You can review Senate Bill 1499 here.

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The state’s high court ruled Monday that a Santa Barbara deputy district attorney who helped in the making of the movie “Alpha Dog” can stay on the real-life death penalty case on which the film is based.

In a similar ruling Monday, the court reinstated a Santa Barbara prosecutor who was taken off a case after she published a crime novel with some of the same features as the actual case.

In the “Alpha Dog” case, a lower appeals court had removed Deputy District Attorney Ron Zonen after he turned over probation reports, police files and other sensitive materials to director Nick Cassavetes. “Alpha Dog,” a fictionalized account of the case that starred Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone and Justin Timberlake, was released last year.

You can access the Alpha Dog case here and the second, related case here.

Fox Business News reports:

New torture claims have been leveled at two U.S. military contractors by a former Abu Ghraib “ghost” detainee who was wrongly imprisoned and later released without charge, according to a lawsuit filed today in Los Angeles federal court by his U.S. legal team.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Emad Al-Janabi, a 43-year-old Iraqi blacksmith, who alleges that he was beaten and forced from his home by people in U.S. military uniforms and civilian clothing in September 2003. He was released from Abu Ghraib without charge in July 2004.

CNN reports:

The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 ruling, upheld Kentucky’s use of lethal injection as a means of executing prisoners, ruling that the method — used in 35 states — is properly and humanely applied.The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Kentucky’s use of lethal injection is not “cruel and unusual.”

At issue was whether the most common method of capital punishment can cause excruciating pain for death row inmates, violating the Constitution’s ban on “cruel and unusual punishment” and thereby giving inmates a proper challenge in court.

The justices had never directly addressed the fundamental question over the constitutionality of the chemical “cocktail” of drugs used to execute convicted killers. All but one of the states that perform executions use the three-drug mixture.

You can read the opinion in Baze v. Rees here.

The LA Times reports:

Prosecutors have long been shielded from lawsuits brought by people who were wrongly convicted. Even if a defendant is later shown to be entirely innocent, the prosecutor who brought the charges cannot be held liable for the mistake.The Supreme Court has ruled that “absolute immunity” is needed so that prosecutors — and judges — can do their jobs without fear of legal retaliation.

But a California case that the high court is considering taking could open a back door for such lawsuits. Prosecutors in Los Angeles are urging the court to block a suit from a man who was wrongly convicted of murder because, they say, it will allow “a potential flood” of similar claims across the nation.

The BBC news reports:

Italy’s highest court has ruled that a woman wearing jeans cannot be raped.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Rome on Wednesday overturned a rape conviction, saying that the supposed victim must have agreed to sex because her jeans could not have been removed without her consent.

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The city council has unanimously approved restricting where sex offenders can live, responding to a communitys outrage over more than a dozen registered sex offenders living in the same 12-unit apartment complex.Councilwoman Suja Lowenthal had proposed the ordinance, which would keep sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of licensed child-care facilities or within 2,500 feet of “high risk” sex offenders. She also wants to limit the number of sex offenders that can live within a multi-family residence.

The council on Tuesday night unanimously approved Lowenthals measure, directing the city attorneys office to research and craft the new law, which will come back to council members for approval.

The AP reports:

The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to civil rights and privacy advocates who oppose the Bush administrations warrantless wiretapping program. The justices, without comment, turned down an appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union to let it pursue a lawsuit against the program that began shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks.The action underscored the difficulty of mounting a challenge to the eavesdropping, which remains classified and was confirmed by President Bush only after a newspaper article revealed its existence.

“Its very disturbing that the presidents actions will go unremarked upon by the court,” said Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLUs national security project. “In our view, it shouldnt be left to executive branch officials alone to determine the limits.”

The Terrorist Surveillance Program no longer exists, although the administration has maintained it was legal.