Baze argument coverage: SF Chrontrarian Debra Saunders has this column, titled "Dishonest on the death penalty." David Savage of the L.A. Times found the justices skeptical of the attacks on lethal injection, as did Tony Mauro at Legal Times. Linda Greenhouse in the New York Times says the challengers "made little headway." Jess Bravin at the Wall Street Journal writes that the Court "seemed divided" and emphasized the discussion of pancuronium.

Cal. DP Hearings: Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury-News has this story on Thursday's hearings of the "California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice" regarding the death penalty. We find it more than a little strange that a commission set up for the ostensible purpose of studying "fairness" would, as its first action, hire a well-known partisan for one side as its executive director.

California Chief Justice Ron George has this op-ed in the L.A. Times on proposals for reform of the capital case review process.

Stupid Crook Story: "A man who hid hunting knives in his pants to try to steal them from a western Michigan store tripped while fleeing and stabbed himself in the abdomen, police say." AP report is here.