In the wake of tragedy, some legislators in Washington are about to come up with a package of what to seems to be, at first glance, authoritarian and draconian criminal justice legislation. These bills may have been thought out in some form long ago by these legislators, and now they think 2010 is the right year to come out with their authoritarian ideas. "Commons" hasn't read any of the pre-session bills (just read previews of them), and not every bill in the hopper today or being considered is necessarily authoritarian (some may actually be sensible and needed), but along with the American Civil Liberties Union, we will be keeping a close watch on what's going on in Olympia. [revised on 12/27/09] The Party of Commons does not sponsor or produce advertising. Copyright 2009, Party of Commons TM