The Brief Writer

In yet another setback for the Bush Administration's military commissions, the military judge presiding over the trial of Salim Hamdan has decided to delay the trial until the Supreme Court has decided the case of Boumediene v. Bush.  Boumediene specifically addresses the applicability of habeas corpus to detainees.  In Boumediene, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit limited detainee rights.

Read more at The Wall Street Journal's law blog.

Federal judge Colleen McMahon handed down a severe sentence to Samuel Israel III, co-founder of the hedge fund, the Bayou Group, for his role in a scheme to cheat investors.  The judge sentenced Israel to 20 years in prison for a fraudulent scheme involving more than $400 million.  The sentence was among the longest handed down in a white-collar case though Israel had pleaded guilty.

In sentencing Israel to 20 years, Judge McMahon noted that the Federal Sentencing Guidelines advised a sentence of more than 30 years in prison.  The judge cited Israel's cooperation with prosecutors as one of the factors mitigating his sentence.

Daniel Marquez, the other co-founder, was found to be less culpable and was sentence to just four years and three months.