THE CONTINENT THAT FORGOT EVIL:

Blair Wins Passage of Security Law: After 30 hours of debate, the House of Lords approves a bill that will allow terrorism suspects to be kept under tight police control. (John Daniszewski, March 12, 2005, LA Times)

After a bitter parliamentary struggle, Prime Minister Tony Blair pushed through a new anti-terrorism law Friday that allows suspects to be kept under tight police control on a judge's order.

The House of Lords approved the measure without amendment Friday night after more than 30 hours of deliberations. The breakthrough came when Blair's Labor Party government agreed that lawmakers would have the opportunity to reject or rewrite the law next year.

Passage came the same day a judge freed on bail eight terrorism suspects, one of them an alleged spiritual leader for Al Qaeda. They had been held for up to three years at London's Belmarsh Prison under an existing anti-terrorism law.

Although the suspects were released, the judge set tight conditions for their bail similar to those envisaged in the new law. They are required to remain in their homes 12 hours a day, cannot use telephones and must wear electronic tracking bracelets. They also are barred from having meetings outside their homes or receiving visitors without court permission.

After all, what could go wrong when you loosen your grip on evil men, Atlanta Judge, 2 Others Killed in Rampage and Wild Escape (John-Thor Dahlburg, Jenny Jarvie and Elizabeth Mehren, March 12, 2005, LA Times)

A rape defendant on Friday overpowered a sheriff's deputy, took her gun and burst into a courtroom where he allegedly killed a judge and a court reporter before fatally shooting another deputy during his escape.

Authorities said Brian Gene Nichols, 33, fled just after 9 a.m. from the eighth floor of the Fulton County Courthouse after killing Superior Court Judge Rowland Barnes, 64, and Julie Ann Brandau, 43.

Nichols allegedly killed Deputy Hoyt Teasley in front of the courthouse; the female deputy, Cynthia Hall, whose gun was stolen, also was shot but survived.

Authorities embarked on a massive search Friday as schools, restaurants and office buildings around the city went into lockdown.

Posted by Orrin Judd at March 11, 2005 11:59 PM