Moussaoui smackdown

The judge in the Moussaoui case has ruled on sanctions against the US government - and rather than dismissing the charges (which is what the government wanted), she has barred them from pursuing the death penalty, and prohibited any use of evidence linking him to the September 11th attack.

"The United States may not maintain this capital prosecution while simultaneously refusing to produce witnesses who could, at a minimum, help the defendant avoid a sentence of death," she wrote.

"It would simply be unfair to require Moussaoui to defend himself against such prejudicial accusations while being denied the ability to present testimony from witnesses who could assist him in contradicting those accusations."

Never fuck with a judge. Though I'm a little disappointed that she didn't start chucking people in jail for contempt.

Needless to say, the prosecution is appealing. Let's just hope that the 4th Circuit has a similar regard for the rights of the accused.