JuiceBlender: Tiffany Alston Found Guilty, Karl Rove Compares O'Malley to Dean, Canadians on Rollin Stanley, MD Drone Crash

Here's a random blend of political tidbits from recent news, starting with disturbing news that an unmanned predator drone has crashed on Maryland's Eastern shore:

JUICE #1: UNMANNED PREDATOR DRONE CRASHES ON MARYLAND'S EASTERN SHORE - Earlier this month, Maryland Juice reported on disturbing news that local governments and even college police forces were beginning to apply for permission to fly unmanned "predator drones" in U.S. airspace. Queen Anne's County, Maryland is one of the jurisdictions that had received authorization to fly drones. As we've seen through our (questionable) use of drones in other nations, they can be dangerous. Indeed, yesterday a $176 million "predator drone" crashed on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The Associated Press carried video footage of the flaming wreckage in Maryland:




REP. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER & VA GOV. BOB MCDONNELL SEEK EXPANDED DRONE USE: Notably, Maryland Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger wants to see more drones flying around and takes thousands of dollars ($190,000) from drone manufacturers. As a result of this mission creep, privacy advocates in the U.S. have become increasingly alarmed about the prospect of spy drones and now hummingbird-sized flying spy cameras being cleared for use by local law enforcement. The Examiner's Gene Healy recently raised red flags about drones invading Americans' reasonable expectations of  privacy (see excerpt below):

EXAMINER: Last week, in its report on the 2013 Defense Authorization bill, the Senate Armed Services Committee called for allowing drones to operate "freely and routinely" in U.S. airspace....

...they're increasingly "contributing to missions of agencies and departments within the United States. ... The pace of development must be accelerated," the report concluded.....

"It's great!" Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said on WTOP's "Ask the Governor" program last month....

TONIGHT: Homeland Security Hosts DC Area Hearings on Deportation Program - Will MD Officials Speak Out?

UPDATE: Washington Post coverage of the DHS hearings:  "Maria Bolanos told [ICE]... that she was arrested after calling police in Maryland during a fight with her partner.... Now she’s facing deportation because her fingerprints were shared with immigration authorities and she was identified as an illegal immigrant as part of the Secure Communities program....  200 people walked out of the meeting, chanting “end it, don’t amend it.” 

Earlier this week, my friends at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee alerted me to tonight's DC-area Department of Homeland Security public hearing. DHS is gathering input on their controversial "Secure Communities" deportation program (see email alert below). We discuss what the fuss is all about in greater depth below, but first a little bit of political background on the issue.

At issue is DHS's program asking local law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of people they detain. People flagged as present without documentation could be instantly whisked away by immigration officials (note: currently deportation occurs whether or not they are guilty of the crime in question -- they may even be the crime victim!)

Democratic Governors in Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts have ensured their states refused to participate in "Secure Communities." Will Maryland officials follow?