Results matching “first”

AP reports:

STARKE, Fla. (AP) -- Florida has executed 51-year-old William Happ for the 1986 rape and strangulation of a woman he encountered by chance in a convenience store parking lot.

Officials say Happ was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke. He was executed by injection.

He had been convicted of the 1986 murder of 21-year-old Angie Crowley. She moved to South Florida from Oregon, Ill., just five months before her murder.

She was traveling to visit a friend in north Florida when she stopped in Crystal River to use a pay phone at a convenience store. Happ just happened to be there. He smashed the window to the car and kidnapped Crowley. He raped her then strangled her with her stretch pants and threw her body in a canal.

Presumably, Florida went ahead with its use of mizadolam.  At least DPIC won't be able to say it's never been used in an execution before.  Obviously, any time a new drug is used it must necessarily have a first use, yet papers print that meaningless objection as if it were profound.

School: Transgender Student's Rights Trump Privacy:  Female students at a Colorado high school have been threatened with disciplinary action if they continue to voice their concerns over being harassed by a male student who is allowed to use female restrooms on campus based on the claim that he is transgendered.  The Daily Mail reports that school administrators told concerned parents that the girls' right to privacy is not as important as the boy's right to be transgendered, and that if the girls continue to complain they may be removed from athletic teams or punished with hate crime charges.  School officials have suggested that female students possibly give up some of their restrooms on campus in order to accommodate their transgendered classmate and alleviate tensions.   

OK to Execute Child Rapists?:  The Ohio legislator, John Becker, has introduced House Bill 244 which would permit the death penalty for repeat sexual offenders found guilty of aggravated rape, aggravated sexual battery, or aggravated unlawful sexual conduct with a minor.  The Youngstown News reports that while such a bill would receive the moral support of many Ohioans, it would likely be held unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Other states which have adopted similar laws  have not utilized them or had them tested in court. 

Prisons Using Computer Algorithms for Parole Eligibility:  In an effort to cut costs at correctional facilities, prison parole boards in at least 15 states are turning to computerized risk assessments to weigh various factors and determine which inmates are most likely to commit new crimes while free on parole.  Jacob Kastrenakes of The Verge reports that the automated systems are showing signs of success - findings from 2011 point out a 3 percent decrease of re-incarcerated parolees since 2006.  The algorithms assess factors such as an inmate's age during their first arrest, fairness of their conviction, and level of education.

Legislation Targets Sex Offenders who Remove Tracking Devices: California's Governor Jerry Brown has signed legislation that will prevent paroled sex offenders who remove their court-ordered tracking device from being eligible for early release from county jail.  The LA Times reports that offenders arrested for removing their GPS device will be sentenced to a mandatory 180-day sentence in county jail.  The legislation is aimed at deterring sex offenders from violating their terms of release.  Under the Governor's Realignment law, offenders were often released from jail less than 24 hours after removing their tracking-device. 

Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has caved in to European pressure and called off the planned execution using the anesthetic propofol.  Jim Salter has this story for AP.

"As governor, my interest is in making sure justice is served and public health is protected," Nixon said in a statement. "That is why, in light of the issues that have been raised surrounding the use of propofol in executions, I have directed the Department of Corrections that the execution of Allen Nicklasson, as set for October 23, will not proceed."

Nixon, a Democrat and staunch supporter of the death penalty, did not specifically mention the EU threat in his brief statement. Nixon was Missouri's longtime attorney general before he was first elected governor in 2008. During his 16 years as attorney general, 59 men were executed.

The leading propofol maker, Germany-based Fresenius Kabi, and anesthesiologists had warned of a possible propofol shortage that could impact millions of Americans if any executions took place.

Released by Overcrowding, Arrested Again:  Over 400 inmates accused of crimes have been released from the Washington County jail in Oregon this year due to overcrowding.  Amy Frazier of KOIN reports on this spike, which is significant when compared to the total of three inmates who were forced released in 2011 and 2012.  Of the 164 inmates who were released during the first half of 2013, 15 of them (about 9%) were arrested in the county for new crimes.  The sheriff's office plans to monitor these findings while they continue to search for more solutions to overcrowding.

Mexico Releases DEA Agent's Killer After 28 Years:  After 28 years in prison, drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero of Mexico walked free when a court overturned his 40-year sentence for ordering the 1985 kidnap and torture murder of US DEA agent Enrique Camarena.. Adriana Gomez Licon of the Associated Press reports that both the U.S. Department of Justice and Mexico's Attorney General expressed concern over the decision, but the DEA is committed to ensuring that Caro Quintero will face charges in the United States for his crimes.  Quintero is a founder of one of the earliest and largest drug cartels, and U.S. authorities suspect that collusion and bribery occurred within the Mexican court system which expedited his release.

Dallas County Begins Fast-tracking Domestic Violence Cases:  The Dallas County felony court is now fast-tracking cases of family violence and those with child victims in an effort to prevent future attacks.  Jennifer Emily of Dallas Morning News reports that as domestic violence cases get older, they become weaker and victims' trauma inevitably increases.  State judge Rick Magnis says that the county has an "optimistic goal" of moving defendants with a high risk for future family violence through the courts within six months of an indictment.

Prosecutors to seek Death Penalty for Inmate Murder: Missouri prosecutors will seek the death penalty for an inmate accused of murdering a fellow prisoner.  The Associated Press reports that 24-year-old Terry Volner murdered an elderly inmate after the men were moved into the same cell.  Volner was already serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after murdering a 4-year-old boy in 2011 and dumping his body in a sewage lagoon.

A number of times on this blog, I have been critical of the way poll questions on the death penalty are worded.  See prior posts here, here, and here.  An internal poll taken for the folks who want to fix California's death penalty asked the question in a way that captures the real public policy question better than any I have seen:

Some people argue that the death penalty should be repealed because it is too complicated and rarely enforced. Regulations have cost taxpayers millions of dollars because inmates must be kept in separate cells, and the appeal process is long and costly. Life in prison will be cheaper for taxpayers.

Others say that we should keep the death penalty in California but reform it to reduce the number of frivolous appeals and lengthy delays. Death row prisoners should not get expensive special treatment, like private cells, and should be forced to work and make restitution to their victim's families. Instead of repealing the death penalty, we should fix the system so that it is enforced.

Which of these two views do you agree with more -- the first statement or the second statement?

The first statement is essentially the argument for Proposition 34, death penalty repeal, on last year's California ballot.  The second is the "mend it, don't end it" position.

CA Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Allow Non-Citizens to be on Juries: Governor Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have allowed non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on a jury.  The Associated Press reports that the bill, which was passed by the Legislature earlier this year, would have made California the first state in the country to allow non-citizens to participate in jury duty.  Each year, approximately 10 million Californians are summoned for jury duty, about 4 million of those summoned are eligible for service.

Jury Convicts Inmate in Capital Murder Case: An Arizona jury has convicted John McCluskey with capital murder in the killings of an elderly couple a few days after he escaped from prison with two other fugitives.  The Associated Press reports that McCluskey escaped from prison in August 2010 and murdered the elderly couple after kidnapping and carjacking them at a New Mexico rest stop.  McCluskey is eligible for a death sentence or life without parole. 

Prior Felony Question Removed from Illinois Job Applications: The governor of Illinois has eliminated the question on  state-job applications that asks if an applicant has previously been convicted of a felony.  CBS Chicago reports that while applicants won't be required to disclose prior convictions in the beginning stage of the application process, state employers will still be allowed to conduct background checks and have access to criminal records later on in the hiring process.  The order, which has also been called "Ban the Box", will not require employers to hire ex-cons.

Voting fraud is a crime, yet the nation's chief law enforcement officer continues to attack states for taking modest, innocuous steps to prevent it.  The WSJ has this editorial with the above headline.

In 1776, the United States of America declared that our people were going to "assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them."  Our forefathers then fought a long and bloody war to make that declaration a reality.

Among other things, that means we are not going to let Europe tell us whether we can give our worst murderers the punishment they deserve.

Alan Zagier reports for AP:

Missouri will move ahead with two planned executions despite efforts in Europe to block a common anesthetic from being used in the procedure, Gov. Jay Nixon said Monday.

German company Fresenius Kabi produces almost the entire supply of propofol, but the European Union is considering possible export limits as part of its anti-capital punishment policies. Missouri has enough to carry out it next two executions and one more, the first scheduled for later this month, but Nixon declined to say what the state would do if it is unable to get more propofol. The drug made headlines in 2009 when pop star Michael Jackson died of an overdose. The Missouri executions would be the first to use propofol.

Nixon said state and federal court systems, not European politicians, will decide death penalty policy in Missouri.

Peter Hall of The Morning Call (Allentown, Penn.), reports:

Three men sentenced as teenagers to life in prison without parole will have an opportunity to convince federal judges they should be resentenced following a U.S. Supreme Court decision saying that practice is unconstitutional.

The U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Thursday the men can file appeals to their state sentences to determine whether the Supreme Court's decision applies in their cases.

First, it should be noted that the Supreme Court did not "say[] that practice is unconstitutional."  It said that having that sentence mandated by law, without discretion in the sentencer to opt for a lower sentence on the individual facts of the case, is unconstitutional.

The decision Thursday involves an arcane bit of federal procedure and is easily misunderstood.  The Third Circuit has not decided that Miller v. Alabama applies retroactively on federal habeas corpus to cases long since final on direct appeal.

The US Supreme Court opened its October 2013 term today.  The orders list is here. As expected, no new cases were taken up for full briefing and argument.  A shorter list of cases taken up was announced last Tuesday, noted here,  here, here.  Today's list contains a number of "vacate and remand" orders where a case is sent back to a lower court to reconsider in light of a US Supreme Court precedent decided after the lower court's decision.  There are a bunch of unremarkable procedural orders, and then a very long list of cases turned down.

Among the capital cases previewed here September 26, the remaining prisoners' petitions were all denied.  Arizona's petition in Ryan v. Hurles, No. 12-1472, has been "relisted" to be considered again this Friday, October 11.

Prosecutors Seeking Death Sentence for Inmate:  An inmate at a high-security federal prison in Kentucky is facing a possible death sentence for the murder of a fellow prisoner. Brett Barrouquere of The Associated Press reports that the charged inmate, John Travis Millner, has a history of violence in and out of prison, and this is not the first incident of acting violently towards other inmates and prison employees. Millner is already serving a life sentence for another murder that took place in 2002. He is awaiting his arraignment on Tuesday.

UK Seeks to End Inmate Early Release:  New government plans are underway in the United Kingdom, plans which would eliminate the automatic early release of inmates jailed for child rape and certain terror offenses. The British Broadcasting Corporation reports that instead of being released automatically on license, the affected inmates who wish to be freed early must prove to the Parole Board that they are no longer a danger to society. Though lawfully sound, some critics are worrisome of the burden such a policy would place on an already overwhelmed Parole Board.

Attitude Shift 20 Years After Death of Polly Klass:  Twenty years after the kidnap and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, public attitudes concerning stranger abductions and the three strikes law are reportedly softening. Kevin Fagan of SF Gate reports that a 50 percent drop in the crime rate against children since 1993, as well as a feeling from some members of society that the three strikes law was too severe are among the reasons for this evident shift in attitudes. Proposition 36 has ended life sentences for offenders whose third strike was not violent or serious, which has shown to lower the rate of reoffending compared to other newly freed prisoners; but some individuals, including Polly's father Marc Klaas, are still proponents of the law's original policies that sentence any third-time felon to life in prison.

From the Sunshine State comes the latest candidate for a lethal injection drug. Steve Bousquet reports in the Tampa Bay Times that Florida is switching to this drug for the first drug in its three-drug method, now that it is no longer able to obtain pentobarbital.

The new drug is midazolam hydrochloride, a sedative that legal experts say has no track record of effectiveness on death row because it has never been used in an execution in the United States.

Well, of course not.  Any new drug, by definition, will have no track record in executions.  And who is the legal expert?  You guessed it -- Richard Dieter, an advocate for the anti-death-penalty side, not identified as such in the story.

But we don't need a track record in executions.  We know from experience in surgical use what dose is sufficient to put someone "under" so he doesn't feel pain, and that is all that is necessary.

For medical use, safety and effectiveness of a drug is demonstrated in trials with volunteers.  There aren't a lot of volunteers for executions, but Florida apparently has one.

Being a prosecutor is in some ways easy and in some ways hard.  It's easy because just about all your defendants are guilty as sin, and there's plenty of evidence to prove it.  It's also easy because, when you go home at night, you do NOT have to explain to your 12-year-old why you did your darndest to fox the jury into acquitting a child molester so he could go home and do it again to someone else's 12-year-old.

Convicted Rapist Carries out Duplicate Attack Upon Release: A man convicted and sentenced to five years in a British prison for the rape of a teenage girl has committed an identical attack on another teenager less than three years after being released.  Suzannah Hills of the Daily Mail reports that 28-year-old Ashad Arif was labeled as a high-risk offender prior to his release, and had been visited by police only a week before committing his most recent rape.  The Reading Crown Court has given Arif a life sentence, but he will be eligible for release after serving at least 6 ½ years of his sentence.

Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty in Brutal Murder: Prosecutors in Missouri are seeking the death penalty for a man accused of shooting his girlfriend several times in the face before leaving her to die.  Anthony Kiekow of Fox St. Louis reports that 63-year-old Terry Culberson had been arrested and convicted for assault with the intent to kill prior to murdering his girlfriend.  Prosecutors are aiming for a death sentence in the case despite a ruling that has halted all executions in the state due to a lawsuit filed by death row inmates.

Convicted Rapist Found Guilty in Cold Case Robbery: A convicted rapist already serving a life sentence has been given a second life sentence after being convicted in a cold-case robbery that took place three years before his first conviction.  Michael Dumas of al.com reports that 24-year-old David Hicks was found guilty less than 15 minutes after jurors in Mobile, Alabama deliberated for his roll in a 2008 assault and robbery of an elderly kindergarten teacher.  Prosecutors were able to charge him with robbery after DNA left on a beer can in the woman's stolen car was identified as belonging to Hicks.

Friday, I previewed the capital cases on the list for the U.S. Supreme Court's "long conference" yesterday. None were taken up in the short orders list released today.  Denials of certiorari (i.e., the Supreme Court declining to take the case and letting the lower court judgment stand) usually come out in the long list released when the Court formally convenes for its new term, the first Monday in October.

There was one exception to the denials-later practice today.  The Court turned down the case of Florida murderer Marshall Gore.  As noted in the prior post, Gore's claim of mental incompetence has been found to be "patently a fabrication."  He is scheduled for execution today.

The other capital cases will probably be denied Monday, although one or more might be "relisted" to be considered again at a future conference.

The case of a traffic stop based on an anonymous call is described in a separate post.

The Court also took up the case of United States v. Castleman, No. 12-1371, another variation on the federal statute barring gun possession by people with certain convictions, in this case a "misdemeanor crime of domestic violence."  This appears to be a pure statutory interpretation argument, not involving the constitutional question of whether Congress has the authority to micromanage who is allowed to possess a gun.

Michael Graczyk reports for AP:

A South Texas man was put to death Thursday for a slaying 14 years ago in which the victim was bound with shoelaces and strips of bedding, stabbed 94 times and robbed of $50.

The execution of Arturo Diaz, 37, was carried out after the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-ditch appeal to block his lethal injection. It was the 13th execution this year in Texas, the nation's most active capital punishment state.

*                                       *                                  *

Texas Department of Criminal Justice officials have used pentobarbital as the single execution drug for more than a year, but Diaz became the first in the state given the sedative procured from a vendor or manufacturer the prison agency has declined to identify.

The expiration date of the department's existing inventory passed this month, possibly diluting its potency. Like other death penalty states, Texas officials needed to go to nontraditional sources because the usual suppliers bowed to pressure from capital punishment opponents and refused to make their product available.

Meanwhile, Ohio has a change coming.  We will find out what it is at the next hearing before Judge Frost, October 4.  Ohio has been a national leader in achieving justice.  They took the step to switch to the single drug protocol, an obvious choice to end litigation over the second and third drugs, when no one else wanted to be first.  They also led the switch from thiopental to pentobarbital when the former became unavailable.

California Bill Would Prohibit Deportation of Illegals: Governor Brown has been presented with a bill that will prohibit police officers from helping to deport some of the state's illegal immigrants.  William La Jeunesse of Fox News reports that the Trust Act applies to illegal immigrants arrested for minor crimes, and would bar the police from reporting the crimes to Immigration officers.  Those not in favor of the bill, which must be either signed or vetoed by October 13, believe the law puts citizens in danger and is a violation of federal law.

Lawyers for Boston Bomber Ask for More Time to Prepare Defense: Lawyers for accused Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev asked for more time in order to develop a proposal aimed at blocking prosecutors from seeking a death sentence.  The Associated Press reports that federal authorities are planning on announcing their decision on whether or not to seel the death penalty by the end of October.  Tsarnaev has been charged with 30 counts for his role in the bombings, 17 of the charges are eligible for the death penalty.

Los Angeles Homicide Rate May Increase: Los Angeles County saw ten homicides over the weekend, leading some to believe this may be the first year since 2005 that the homicide rate has been higher compared to the previous year.  Patrick Healy of NBC 4 reports that Los Angeles County has seen increases in both violent and property crimes after experiencing decades of declining crime rates.  Counties across the state have reported increases in crime rates since the implementation of Realignment in 2011.

Professor R. Michael Cassidy of Boston College Law School had a long and, so far as I know, distinguished career as a Massachusetts prosecutor.  He has been teaching law for the last 17 years.  He has recently written a piece, which can be found here on SSRN, in which he takes the view that prosecutors have an ethical duty as, in effect, "ministers of justice," to support (if not campaign for) what he terms "sentencing reform."

...compel her to join in the effort to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing provisions for most drug and non-violent offenses.  Not only are mandatory sentences in most instances unduly harsh, coercive, and inefficacious, but they allow for an arbitrary and discriminatory application that is essentially unreviewable by courts.  The author distinguishes this argument against mandatory minimum penalties from the so-called "Smart on Crime" movement, by grounding a prosecutor's duty to promote sentencing reform in ethical reasoning as opposed to pragmatic or cost-savings considerations.

Jury in Serial Killer Case Recommends Death Sentence: The jury for a California man known as the 'alphabet killer' has recommended the death penalty for his role in the murders of four women between 1977 and 1994.  CBS San Francisco reports that the murders were labeled as cold cases until 2009 when a routine probation search of Joseph Naso's home turned up a considerable amount of evidence linking him to the unsolved cases.  The judge overseeing the case still has 20 days to confirm the sentence, and maintains the option of handing down a life sentence instead.

Convicted Murderer Kills Again: A California inmate serving a life sentence for first-degree murder is the lone suspect in the murder of his cellmate.  The Associated Press reports that 40-year-old Steven Brenneman, who was serving an 18-year-sentence for forcible rape, was found dead in his cell earlier this week from fatal stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head.  Brenneman's cellmate is being held in isolation while authorities continue to investigate the murder.

Mom Charged in her Children's Murders Asks for Death Sentence: A woman accused of murdering her two children over the weekend has asked a judge to sentence her to death.  The Associated Press reports that 42-year-old Marilyn Edge appeared in front of a judge via live-video for her arraignment, and when asked if she wanted her arraignment postponed, Edge replied "Only if you promise me the death penalty."  Edge, who had just recently lost custody of her two children, allegedly murdered her children in a Southern California hotel room during their vacation to Disneyland.  

Justice Scalia gave a talk at George Washington University yesterday.  He emphasized the structural aspects of the Constitution, including federalism and the bicameral legislature, as underappreciated factors in the preservation of freedom.  Alex Hopkins has this story at the Washington Times.  Tony Mauro has this post at BLT.

Elizabeth Wydra of the Constitutional Accountability Center has this post on the speech, giving us a fine example of the straw man fallacy.  She discusses the fact that the Constitution was drafted to make a federal government more robust than the anemic Articles of Confederation government.

Of course, conservatives like Justice Scalia might not like this part of our constitutional story so much, because it helps to refute the claim that the Constitution is a document that is primarily about limiting government.

Huh?  What "conservatives like Justice Scalia" make such a claim?

Illegal Immigrants in California to get Driver's Licenses: California's Legislature has sent a bill to Governor Jerry Brown that will allow illegal aliens to get driver's licenses.  Christopher Cadelago and Jeremy White of the Sacramento Bee report that illegals will be allowed to apply for the license as long as they can show some type of an approved form of  identification to the Department of Motor Vehicles.  The governor has indicated that he supports the bill and will be signing it into law. 

Alabama Supreme Court Decides how Juvenile Murderers can be Sentenced: The Alabama Supreme Court issued a ruling earlier today holding that judges may now elect to give juvenile murderers a sentence of life in prison with or without the possibility of parole.  Kent Faulk of Al.com reports that prior to the ruling, Alabama law required a mandatory sentence of LWOP for juveniles convicted of aggravated first degree murder.  The Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory LWOP for juveniles was unconstitutional and has said judges must have sentencing discretion.

Man Murders his Niece to 'End her Misery': An Illinois man has been charged with murder after police say he slit his niece's throat and stabbed her multiple times in the heart.  Willis Robinson of the Daily Mail reports that 22-year-old Justin DeRyke told authorities the young girl fell on a stick and impaled herself, so he decided to slit her throat to "end her suffering."  The girl's autopsy showed defensive wounds on her hands leading authorities to believe she fought for her life, contradicting the uncle's version of the story.

California Drug Raid Nets Dozens of Arrests: A Southern California drug task force concluded their undercover drug operation on Tuesday after arresting 65 suspects.  Kristy Wolski of Fox 5 San Diego reports that officers recovered over 150 pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin, along with more than 70 guns and a live hand grenade.  Some of the individuals arrested will face federal drug trafficking charges which could result in a life sentence.  Under California law drug dealing is a non-serious crime punishable with a county jail sentence.

Oklahoma Executes Death Row Inmate: An Oklahoma man convicted of first-degree murder was executed Tuesday evening by lethal injection.  The Associated Press reports that 61-year-old Anthony Banks was already serving a life sentence for a previous homicide when DNA evidence linked him to the 1979 murder of a 25-year-old woman for which he was eventually sentenced to death.  Banks became the fourth person executed by the state of Oklahoma this year.

Inmate Charged After Attacking Guard: A North Dakota inmate already serving a life sentence for kidnapping and murder has been charged with attempted murder after attacking a prison guard with a homemade knife.  The Associated Press reports that 43-year-old John Bridges was sentenced to life plus 20 years after pleading guilty to the kidnapping and ax murder of another man.  Prior to the attack on the guard, Bridges was being held in the prison's administrative segregation unit.

Senators Recalled Over Gun Control Support: Two Colorado Democrats were recalled from the state senate yesterday due to their support of tougher gun control laws.  Joseph Weber of Fox News reports that Colorado voters recalled the state's senate president and another senator based upon their votes in support of 15-round limits on ammunition magazines and tougher background checks during private gun sales.  This is the first time in Colorado history that state lawmakers have been recalled.

Yesterday, Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury-News reported on the case of David Allen Raley, one of the 15 California death row inmates who have completed all the usual reviews of their cases.  "Armed with a new order from the California Supreme Court, Raley has revived his appeals with a claim that he was mentally retarded at the time of his 1985 crime -- a finding that would spare him from execution under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision."

Today, Mintz reports it is not Raley making the claim after all.  It is the lawyers appointed to represent Raley, over his vehement objection.

Death row inmate David Allen Raley on Monday asked a Santa Clara County judge to fire the court-appointed lawyers arguing that he should be spared execution because he is mentally retarded.

But it appears Raley's defense team will be allowed to press forward with the legal argument, whether the condemned killer likes it or not.

After clearing the courtroom to hear from Raley, Superior Court Judge Linda Clark, without commenting on the representation issue, moved forward with a special hearing to determine if Raley should be given a reprieve under a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that bars the execution of the mentally retarded.

The situation here is a bit murky.  We don't know what happened in chambers between the judge and Raley.  We don't know if this is the first time he raised his objection.  We don't know if his lawyers gave him notice of the claim they were making on his behalf so as to enable him to object earlier.

If a mentally competent inmate wants to fire his lawyers and dismiss his petition, he should be allowed to do so.  If this motion is made for the first time at the last minute, though, it may be just as well to proceed with the hearing, given that the preparation has been done, and the testimony will shed light on whether Raley is indeed competent to make the decision. 

If the day Raley was brought from Big Q for the hearing was the first day he knew that his lawyers were claiming he is retarded, they have some explaining to do.

Teen Charged with Murder After School Stabbing: One 17-year-old boy is dead and another is charged with his murder after a fight at their Texas high school turned deadly.  The Houston Chronicle reports that an early morning fight in the cafeteria ended with one student dying and three others being wounded after the suspect pulled out a knife and began stabbing his opponents.  The suspect, 17-year-old Luis Alfaro, has been charged with murder and is being held in county jail.

CA Bill to Help Realignment Felons: A California bill being considered by the state Senate would allow people convicted of realignment crimes (non-violent, non-serious, non-sexual) to request that a judge expunge their felony convictions.  Erika Auilar of SCPR reports that the bill would allow ex-cons convicted of property felonies, or drug dealing to check the 'no' box on job applications when asked if they have ever been convicted of a felony.  A felony conviction that has been expunged can disappear from someone's criminal record after ten years if the individual isn't convicted of an additional crime.

California Inmates End Hunger Strike: A two-month long hunger strike taking place in prisons across California has ended after lawmakers agreed to listen to complaints concerning the treatment of inmates.  KTVU and the Associated Press report that the hunger strike, which at one point involved more than 30,000 inmates, began over concerns of the use of solitary confinement.  The hearings will begin later this fall, and will address complaints surrounding the solitary confinement of prison gang leaders. 

Colorado Teen Accused of Stabbing Mom 79 Times: A Colorado teenager is facing murder charges after allegedly stabbing her mother 79 times in the face and neck in the bathroom of their home.  Katherina Cavazini of HLN reports that 18-year-old Isabella Guzman is being held without bond in a Colorado jail on first-degree murder charges.  Guzman was scheduled to be arraigned earlier this morning, but the hearing was postponed after she refused to leave her cell.

I don't want to beat this horse to death, but there have been a few requests for my opening statement in my Tuesday, September 3 Federalist Society debate with Prof. Doug Berman. Our discussion concerned the Attorney General's new directions to federal prosecutors about mandatory minimums and, more generally, balancing judicial versus legislative power in sentencing.

Last month, the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics released its advance figures on prison populations.  This is a census of prisoners in state and federal prisons, not county jails.*  The total state prison population declined by 29,223 from year-end 2011 to year-end 2012.  California alone accounted for 51% of the drop, while California and Texas together accounted for 71%.

In California, the drop is primarily due to the Realignment program shifting convicted felons to county jails.  In theory, it was not supposed to reduce the total persons incarcerated, although the hydraulic pressure on overcrowded jails has done that.

So who is left in California's prisons?  Let's compare the most serious offense of commitment of California prisoners versus the 50-state total:

State Prisoners by Commitment Offense - 2012 (%)

Offense Type	California	All States
Violent	69.8	53.0
Property	14.5	18.3
Drug	9.1	16.8
Public Order	6.5	10.6
Other/unspec.	0.1	1.4

Nidal Hasan Sentenced to Death: Former Army psychiatrist and convicted Ft. Hood murderer Nidal Hasan has been sentenced to death.  The Associated Press reports that the jury that found him to be guilty of 13 counts of first-degree murder last week was left with two sentencing options; death or life without parole.  Hasan may become the first American soldier to be executed since 1961.

CA Governor Proposes Controversial $315 Million Plan to Reduce Prison Overcrowding: Jerry Brown's answer to a federal order requiring him to alleviate prison overcrowding involves a $315 million plan that will reduce prison capacity by leasing space from county jails and other prisons around the country.  Dan Whitcomb of Reuters reports that his plan, which was met with immediate resistance by liberal advocacy groups, will comply with the original demand to reduce California's prison capacity to 137.5% without releasing thousands of inmates back into the community.  In addition to the initial $315 million price-tag for this year, the plan will cost an additional $415 million for the next two years. 

Woman Brutally Beaten in 'Racially Motivated' Attack: A Pittsburgh woman is recovering from injuries she sustained after being attacked by a group of black teenagers who allegedly beat her while calling her racial slurs.  WPXI News reports that the victim, Ginger Slepski, was beaten after confronting a group of teenage girls who threw a bottle at her car.  The group of teenagers allegedly involved have all been charged with robbery and ethnic intimidation.  

Study Reveals no Correlation Between Gun Control and Fewer Violent Crimes:  A study conducted by Harvard University has found that having stricter gun control laws doesn't necessarily result in lower death rates or fewer instances of violent crime.  Awr Harkins of breitbart.com reports that the study, "Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?", compared European country's gun ownership numbers to the amount of gun-related homicides and found that less guns doesn't always mean less death.  Norway, for example, had the highest household gun ownership rate (32%) in Western Europe while also holding the title of having the lowest murder rate. 

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Today is the golden anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and Martin Luther King's famous speech. These are, by far, the most important words Dr. King ever spoke.  They are the most important for the same reason that the Declaration of Independence is the most important document Thomas Jefferson ever wrote.  These are words that transcend the individual author.  They were embraced by the nation as the distillation of the idea that motivated a great movement, a leap forward in the cause of freedom.

If you visit the MLK memorial in Washington, don't bother looking for these words among the many engraved quotations.  They aren't there.  They have been banished by Political Correctness.

The website Opposing Views regularly puts out emails with headlines that sound outrageous, designed to get a rise out of readers.

The email I received this morning says, "Florida taxpayers will end up footing the bill for George Zimmerman's legal fees after his recent acquittal in the death of teenager Trayvon Martin."  Really?  Florida provides attorneys' fees to acquitted criminal defendants?  That would be highly unusual, if true.

Brown Considers Private Prisons to Alleviate Overcrowding: In order to avoid releasing thousands of prisoners back into California communities, Governor Brown is considering a plan that would involve working with a private prison corporation in order to expand the California prison system and reduce overcrowding.  Saki Knafo of the Huffington Post reports that the new plan would have the country's largest private prison corporation, Corrections Corporation of America, leasing one or more of its prisons to California and have the facility be staffed and run by the state's prison guards and other public employees.  Transferring California inmates to these new facilities would allow Governor Brown to be in compliance with a federal order handed down earlier this year demanding the release of thousands of inmates due to overcrowding.    

Teenagers Beat WWII Vet to Death: One juvenile has been arrested while police continue to search for another teen suspect in the beating death of a WWII veteran earlier this week in Spokane, Washington.   Ed Payne of CNN reports that 88-year-old Delbert Belton was beaten and left for dead by two teenagers in what police believe to have been a random attack.  The male suspect in custody has been charged with first-degree murder and robbery.

"Why the Manning Verdict Was a Mistake": UC Berkeley law professor John Yoo provided insight on a video interview seen here about the recent sentencing of Bradley Manning, convicted of leaking thousands of classified files to foreign countries.  Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, a punishment Yoo believes was not harsh enough to fit the serious nature of the crime he committed.  Rather, Yoo believes Manning should have been convicted of aiding the enemy, a charge that is death penalty eligible, in order to send a message to other people and hopefully deter future harmful acts against our national security.