"No really," attorney general Eric Holder seems to be saying. "We still don't care that much about medical marijuana enforcement. But California's got their own stuff to deal with." In a House Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, in response to questioning from a congressman about the medical marijuana crackdown in California that has succeeded in closing hundreds of dispensaries in the last two months, Holder reiterated that the Justice Department remains firmly behind the Ogden memo — the 2009 document which declared that the sale and use of medical marijuana in states where it's legal are a low priority for federal prosecutors. However, in the case of California he got more equivocal. more ›

Choose your allusion-- the sword of Damocles finally striking, the chickens coming home to roost, karma being an ill-tempered bitch-- but Barry Lamar is now up against it for breaking the law, breaking the law. Personally, we were a bit stunned that it happened coming as it did years after the actual case, but we're cavemen-- we fell on some ice and was later thawed by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses us! more ›

You've undoubted heard by now of the controversy where AG AG (That's Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) fired a bunch of people for apparently less than above-board reasons. Well, maybe he had a good excuse for canning Kevin Ryan, former local U.S. Attorney. An article in the Washington Post cites the tesitmony that David Margolis, a Justice Department official, gave to congressional investigators. His testimony indicated that his opinion circa 2004 or 2005 was that Kevin Ryan was "having trouble managing [his office]." Furthermore, according to the article, Margolis said that Ryan wasn't on the initial "to be fired" list--and that Margolis indicated surprise on learning that. more ›

Is Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein the new Jerry Seinfeld? Every year, he steps on the stage of the SF Opera in the Park, which the Chron generously helps produce. And people are semi-drunk on chardonnay, satiated on taboule and tomato-and-mozarella salads, they are baking in the sun: they are warmed up already. Yet every year, Phil's attempts to warm up the crowd even more end up in a train wreck. Here are this year's jokes (transcribed by us as honestly as we could), and we'll let you be the judge: more ›

The 'Gate is reporting that Josh has been granted bail by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, to wit:

In a brief order, two judges of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Wolf was entitled to bail because the government had not shown his appeal of a judge's contempt-of-court ruling was frivolous or intended solely to delay the proceedings...The court said another panel would rule on Wolf's appeal of the contempt order while he is free on bail. If he loses the appeal, he could be sent back to federal prison until the grand jury's term expires next July.

Okay, here's an update on that lawsuit against AT&T and the Federal Government for illegally snooping on people's phone calls and e-mails. Basically, there are about seventeen similar lawsuits out there in the midst of the legal world and because they're all sort of similar-- whiny Al Queda supporters suing the telecoms and government for doing something unconstitutional, they've been mashed together into one big lawsuit sandwich. That sandwich will be heard in San Francisco's very own Federal Court by one U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker. The reasoning is because out of all the various suits out there, the AT&T one is the most advanced. Bully to the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation and how awesome would it be if they started their own University just so people could say they go to EFF U?) and the ACLU for being on the ball. more ›

And the next shoe dropped. more ›

DOJ declines to appeal Oracle takeover bid. more ›