Results matching “first”

CA Governor asks Supreme Court to halt Release of 9,600 Inmates: Governor Jerry Brown asked Justice Kennedy of the U.S. Supreme Court to stay federal judicial panel's order requiring the release of 9,600 inmates back into California communities.  Patrick McGreevy and Paige St. John of the LA Times report that the federal order requires Brown to either begin preparing the release of thousands of inmates immediately, or come up with a different plan to solve the prison overcrowding issue.  The state argues that it needs more time to comply with the orders and believes that the release of thousands of inmates, including those who have been convicted of violent and serious offenses, is a dangerous solution.

California Counties Begin Holding Parole Hearings: Merced County Superior Court became the first local-level court in California to hold a parole hearing, a change required under the state's realignment law.  Ramona Giwargis of the Merced Sun-Star reports that Merced County held 8 parole-revocation arraignments yesterday, and some county officials are worried about the additional workload they will be presented with.  AB 109, California's prison realignment law, shifts the responsibility from the state to the county level for parole revocation hearings.

Convicted Murderers Released from Prison on a Technicality: More than a dozen convicted murderers in Maryland have been released from prison after the state overturned their convictions due to improper jury instructions in their cases.  Monique Griego of CBS Baltimore reports that the ruling applies to individuals convicted of crimes prior to 1980, and could entitle hundreds of inmates to new trials.  Prosecutors have the option of either retrying the case or setting the inmates free and placing them on probation.  So far, 13 inmates have been released, and the state plans to release seven more next month.

Convicted Serial Rapist Set to Be Released: A California judge has ruled that convicted serial rapist Christopher Hubbert will be released in November from a state prison hospital in Los Angeles County.  CBS San Francisco reports that Hubbert has been convicted of raping 40 women throughout California and was institutionalized after state officials determined he had a severe mental disorder.  Hubbert has been paroled twice since his first conviction in 1972 and was rearrested and convicted both times after committing additional rapes.  

Ft. Hood Defendant Won't Question Potential Jurors: Army psychiatrist and accused murderer Maj. Nidal Hasan declined to question potential jurors as the jury selection process got underway.  The Columbus Dispatch reports that Hasan, who is acting as his own defense attorney, didn't take any notes or speak with his former defense attorneys during the first day of jury selection.  Hasan has been indicted on 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder.  He faces the death penalty or life without parole if found guilty.

Anti-Zimmerman Protests Facilitated by DOJ: The Community Relations Services (CRS), a unit within the Department of Justice, was sent to Florida in 2012 in order to provide assistance for anti-George Zimmerman protests.  Patrick Howley of The Daily Caller reports that the CRS spent thousands of dollars after providing security at several marches, demonstrations, and rallies related to the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.  The CRS was established by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and was designed to be a 'peacemaker' during community conflicts.

At first, the Zimmerman/Martin case was all about race.  But now it's not, says this article in the WaPo.

Next, it was going to be about Florida's "stand your ground" law.  But it's not.  The prosecution's best witness says Martin had Zimmerman pinned on the ground and was beating him in a mixed martial arts "ground and pound" maneuver.  See ABC story.  Retreat wasn't an option.

It appears that in the end this much-ballyhooed case will be a regular self-defense case.  Florida's self-defense statute (§776.013(3)) says:

A person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.

Aside from the "no duty to retreat" language, inapplicable to this case, this is standard self-defense law, the same as most states.

However disagreeable Zimmerman's acts of following Martin and confronting him may have been, they were not criminal.  If Martin is the one who crossed the line from verbal confrontation to physical assault, as appears to be the case, then what is left to argue about?  It looks like the key issue is "great bodily harm."  How much injury do you have to be in danger of before you can shoot the assailant?

We can yuck it up all we like laughing at that ridiculous old propaganda film, but the inconvenient scientific truth is that there really is a connection between reefers and madness.  Dr. Samuel T. Wilkinson of the Yale School of Medicine has this article in the WSJ.

Though they receive little attention in the legalization debate, the scientific studies showing an association between marijuana use and schizophrenia and other disorders are alarming. A 2004 article in the highly respected British Journal of Psychiatry reviewed four large studies, all of which showed a significant and consistent association between consumption of marijuana (mostly during teenage years or early 20s) and the later development of schizophrenia. The review concluded that marijuana is a "causal component," among others, in the development of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

A 2007 study in the Lancet, a British medical journal, concludes that using marijuana increases the risk of young people developing a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia. This risk is greatest--up to a 200% increase--among those who use marijuana heavily and who start using at a younger age.

Convicted Murderer Killed in Maine Prison: A fight between two convicted murderers in a Maine State Prison left one inmate dead and the other facing another murder charge.  Nok-Noi Ricker of Bangor Daily News reports that the man being charged in the inmate's death, Guy Hunnewell III, is serving a 40-year sentence for the stabbing death of his estranged girlfriend.  This is not the first prison altercation Hunnewell has been involved in, he was indicted in 2003 for allegedly assaulting another inmate with a shank.

US Marine's Murder Conviction Overturned: A U.S. Marine, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, had his murder conviction overturned after a federal judge ruled his Fifth Amendment rights were violated during an interrogation.  The Associated Press reports that Hutchins was the leader of a group accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in 2006.  Hutchins will be released after serving roughly half of his 11-year sentence.

Columbian Police Make Arrest in DEA Agent's Murder: Four men have been arrested in Columbia and charged in the murder of U.S. DEA agent James Watson.  Jim Wyss of the Miami Herald reports that the men could be extradited to the United States to face murder charges.  Authorities believe the murder was the result of a botched robbery and not related to Watson's employment with the DEA.

Update:  Texas Executes 500th Inmate:  Convicted murderer, Kimberly McCarthy, became the 500th inmate to be executed in Texas since the death penalty was reinstated in 1982.  She was pronounced dead Wednesday evening after Texas prison officials administered a single lethal does of pentobarbital.

Reasonable people largely agree that repeat offenders should be punished more severely than first offenders.  When a criminal is convicted of the new offense in a different jurisdiction, though, categorizing the prior offense has proven to be a continuing problem.

Classifying a federal defendant as a "career offender" under § 4B1.1 of the Sentencing Guidelines requires deciding if his prior conviction qualifies as a "crime of violence."  How about this crime?  Is this violent?

When petitioner pleaded guilty, this is what was said:

"'[Assistant District Attorney]: On . . . April 27, 2004, . . . [petitioner] grabbed Mrs. Marrero by the neck, attempting to drag her upstairs to the second floor. When she tried to make a phone call, he ripped the phone cord out of the wall as she was attempting to call 911.'"

"'The Court: Do you admit those facts?'"

"'The Defendant: Yes, Sir.'"

Sounds violent to me.  What's the problem?

Hollywood Murder Raises Realignment Concerns: The man charged with stabbing a Hollywood tourist to death was a parolee released under California's Realignment law just 11 days prior to the attack.  CBS Los Angeles reports that the suspect, Dustin Kinnear, had been arrested at least 46 times before the attack, seven of those arrests being for assault with a deadly weapon.  Under the so-called Public Safety Realignment law, assault with a deadly weapon is not considered a serious or violent crime.

Oklahoma Executes Man Despite Parole Board Objection: An Oklahoma man convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend's mother was executed despite a recommendation by Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board.  Fox News reports that the recommendation made by the parole board came after the suspect apologized for his actions and took responsibility for his victim's death.  Governor Mary Fallin stands by her decision and is "satisfied that justice is being served in this case." 

Texas Prepares to Execute 500th Inmate: Texas is set to execute death row inmate Kimberly McCarthy later today marking their 500th execution since the state resumed carrying out death penalty sentences in 1982.  The Associated Press reports that McCarthy was convicted of first-degree murder after robbing and fatally stabbing a retired professor in 1997.  Texas has carried out almost 40 percent of the more than 1,300 executions in the U.S. since the Supreme Court voted to reinstate capital punishment in 1976.

Four LAPD Officers Shot in Less Than 24 Hours: Two separate attacks resulted in four officers from the Los Angeles Police Department being shot on Tuesday.  The Associated Press reports that the first incident involved two undercover officers being ambushed as they returned to a police station.  The suspect in that incident has yet to be found.  Later in the day, officers conducting a parole-probation search were shot at, resulting in one officer being shot in the face.  The incidents appear to be unrelated, and all of the officers are expected to survive.

Last Minute Insanity Claim Halts Florida Execution: A federal appeals court halted the execution of Florida death row inmate, Marshall Lee Gore, an hour before he was set to die by lethal injection.  David Ovalle of the Miami Herald reports that Gore, who was convicted of murdering two women 25 years ago, was granted a stay of execution after his lawyers made an insanity claim on his behalf.  Gore has no documented history of mental illness, and was found to be mentally sound by psychiatrists after the governor ordered him to be evaluated.

Baby Killer Granted Parole: A California appellate court ignored Governor Brown's decision to deny parole for convicted baby-killer, Christopher Fowler, and agreed with the Parole Board to release him.  Nannette Miranda of ABC 7 Sacramento reports that the court believes Fowler's good behavior and participation in rehabilitative programs while incarcerated indicate that he will be a "low-risk offender" in the community upon release.  Governor Brown is currently reviewing the case, and can ask the California Supreme Court for a hearing if he decides to intervene in Fowler's release. 

Convicted Murderer Kills Again While Serving Life Sentence: An inmate at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville has been ordered to stand trial for the 2010 death of a fellow inmate.  Ryan Chalk of The Reporter reports that Andrew Roman, 46, allegedly assaulted another inmate and threw him over a third floor railing resulting in his death.  Prosecutors say Roman was already serving a life sentence after being convicted of second-degree murder.     

Convicted Rapist Linked to Cold Case Murder:  A cold case from 1982 has been solved after DNA evidence linked John Ernest Walsh, a convicted rapist, to the murder of Stefanie Watson.  Brad Bell of ABC News reports that Walsh was given a life sentence in 1969 for a rape he committed, but murdered Stefanie while he was out on parole from 1980 to 1989. Walsh, now 68, will be charged with first degree murder.

One of the most important challenges facing those who demand respect for law is Racial Whinerism.  This is a subset of General Whinerism, in which the thug victim of adverse social forces purports to show that serious punishment Draconian mean-spiritedness flows from society's refusing to indulge phony excuses understand his difficult childhood.  One favorite item in the inventory of Whinerism Excuses is racism.

From today's per curiam reversal of the Ninth Circuit in Ryan v. Schad, No. 12-1084.

Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 41(d)(2)(D) sets forth the default rule that "[t]he court of appeals must issue the mandate immediately when a copy of a Supreme Court order denying the petition for writ of certiorari is filed." (Emphasis added.)

What part of "must" does the Ninth Circuit not understand?

...while I have more than a few problems with our country's chief prosecutor, I don't want to neglect our friends in the defense bar, for whom, I am constrained to confess, lying, or the functional equivalent thereof, is often the only way out, given the clientele.  While in my opinion deceit degrades the legal profession, misleading tactics by the defense are accepted by professional norms, at least as long as they don't devolve into point-blank perjury, fabricating evidence, assassinating witnesses or something unpleasant like that.

Oklahoma Murderer to be Executed: Convicted murderer James Lewis DeRosa is set to be executed at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary tonight at 6:00 p.m.  Rachel Peterson of McAlester News reports that DeRosa was convicted in 2001 on two counts of first-degree murder.  The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board denied DeRosa's request for clemency earlier this month by a vote of 3-2.    Update:  DeRosa was pronounced dead at 6:07 pm last night as reported here.

Sentencing in Obama-Clinton Primary Fraud Scandal: Four Indiana Democrats who pleaded guilty in their state's presidential petition fraud scandal were sentenced on Monday.  Eric Shawn of Fox News reports that a student at Yale University noticed multiple signatures, over 200 of them, written in the same handwriting for the presidential petitions used to place candidates on the ballot.  Had Hillary Clinton challenged the petitions during the Indiana primary race, election fraud would have been detected, which could have resulted in Obama's removal from the Indiana primary ballot.       

Federal Appeals Court Releases Admitted Murderer: A federal appeals court has freed a convicted murderer based on the location of his crimes.  KOCO Oklahoma City News reports that David Magnan, who was sentenced to death for a triple homicide, was freed because the crimes were committed on Indian land.  The state lacks authority to prosecute crimes committed on Indian land.  However, it is likely that Magnan will be rearrested by federal authorities since he admitted to the murders.

Inmate Release Judge to Rule on Valley Fever Case:  A lawyer from the Prison Law Office is demanding that 3,250 inmates be moved from San Joaquin Valley prisons to prevent deaths from the fungus-born Valley Fever.  Over the past seven years an estimated three dozen inmates have died from the disease.  Mihir Zaveri and Don Thompson of the Associated Press report that Judge Thelton Henderson will decide if the move is necessary.  Judge Henderson was a member of the three judge panel which in 2010, ordered California to release roughly 36,000 inmates after it found that overcrowding had resulted in inadequate prison healthcare.  The state has asked for more time until a CDC study of the issue is completed. 

The WaPo's political blog, The Fix, has this post on the governorships deemed in play this year and next.  Most pertinent for us:

Colorado comes onto the line for the first time this cycle following a Quinnipiac University poll showing former congressman Tom Tancredo (R) running neck-and-neck with the once highly popular governor. Hickenlooper's decision to grant a temporary reprieve to a convicted murderer was received very poorly by Colorado voters in the survey. It's just one poll, and time will tell whether it is an outlier. But for now, this race is worth keeping an eye on.

The poll is here.  Quinnipiac says,

Colorado voters say 69 - 24 percent that the death penalty should stay on the books and not be replaced by life in prison with no chance of parole, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. At the same time, Gov. John Hickenlooper finds himself running neck and neck with possible challengers in the 2014 governor's race.

Voters disapprove 67 - 27 percent of Gov. Hickenlooper's decision to grant convicted murderer Nathan Dunlap a reprieve, and 74 percent say the death penalty will be "very important" or "somewhat important" in their vote for governor next year, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

I would dearly love to see Hickenlooper get the boot and for it to be clear that this is the reason.  It would be just deserts for Hickenlooper himself.  It would allow a reboot of justice for Colorado, one of the states stabbed in the back by the Supreme Court's Walton/Ring flip-flop.  It would send a strong signal to governors elsewhere considering similar shenanigans.

The clemency power is a necessary and important safeguard to correct miscarriages of justice in individual cases that have somehow slipped through the cracks, uncorrected by the judicial process.  Using it to block the enforcement of a law altogether is a misuse of authority.

Well, that was quick.

Congress has long forbidden demonstrations at the Court.  In 1983 the Court held that statute unconstitutional as to the sidewalks in United States v. Grace.  The law has continued to be enforced as to the grounds.  Earlier this week, a federal district judge found it unconstitutional as to the grounds as well.  The Court swiftly reacted with this revised regulation:

The US Supreme Court today decided, 5-4, that an amendment to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines that increases the guideline range for a crime cannot be applied to a crime committed prior to the amendment.  Such application would violate the Ex Post Facto Clause of Article I, Section 9.  (The same holding would apply to states under the parallel Article I, Section 10 clause.)  The case is Peugh v. United States, No. 12-62.

The federal system adopts procedural measures intended to make the Guidelines the lodestone of sentencing. A retrospective increase in the Guidelines range applicable to a defendant creates a sufficient risk of a higher sentence to constitute an ex post facto violation.

Justice Kennedy did not join part III C of Justice Sotomayor's opinion, making that part a plurality opinion.  That part concludes, "But, contrary to the dissent's view, see post, at 11-13, the Ex Post Facto Clause does not merely protect reliance interests. It also reflects principles of 'fundamental justice.' "

What makes this case close is that the Sentencing Guidelines were transformed from mandatory to advisory in the Booker case.  Justice Thomas notes in the dissent (joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia and Alito):

First, the Guidelines do not constrain the discretion of district courts and, thus, have no legal effect on a defendant's sentence. Second, to the extent that the amended Guidelines create a risk that a defendant might receive a harsher punishment, that risk results from the Guidelines' persuasive force, not any legal effect. The Guidelines help district judges to impose sentences that comply with §3553(a). The risk of an increased sentence is, in essence, the risk of a more accurate sentence--i.e., a sentence more in line with the statutory scheme's penological goals. Guideline changes that help district courts achieve such pre-existing statutory sentencing goals do not create a risk of an increased sentence cognizable under the Ex Post Facto Clause. We have never held that government action violates the Ex Post Facto Clause when it merely influences the exercise of the sentencing judge's discretion.

Nearly lost in the hubbub over the DNA decision, the FBI on Monday released its preliminary full-year crime statistics for 2012. (The first-half stats were released in January.)  The national data show an uptick in violent crimes (1.2%) and a downtick in property crimes (-0.8%).

Naturally, I was curious to see how California fared relative to the nation as a whole in the first full year of realignment.  Not good.  The FBI strangely does not give state totals in this report, but it gives numbers for cities over 100,000 population, which covers about half of the population of the state.  So I totaled these city numbers for 2012 and compared them with 2011.  Crime rates are generally higher in urban areas, of course, but we are dealing with year-to-year differences here, so that factor cancels out.

Unlike the mixed bag in the national numbers, California city crime is up in every category.  Not only that, but California city crime increased more than the national figure in every category.  Violent crime is up 2.9% compared to 1.2% nationally, but when we focus on the most violent crimes, we see murder up 10.5% v. 1.5% nationally and rape up 6.4% v. a 0.3% drop nationally.

For property crime the difference is even greater, just what you would expect in a state that has decided to coddle its property offenders.  Overall, California cities had a 9.7% increase v. a 0.8% drop nationally.

Auto theft is particularly telling, as it is not a "serious" offense (although it is very serious to the victims), and thus the entire category comes under the realignment law.  California cities had a staggering 15% increase in auto theft, while the nation as a whole had only a 1.3% increase.  I noted the same effect in the first-half data on this blog here.

The evidence continues to mount, confirming what persons of sense knew from the beginning.  Realignment is a disaster.

In recent days, here for example, I have criticized the reigning theory of Political Correctness.  The theory takes root in what is called "white privilege."  The main idea, in the abstract at least, is that white males have spent almost all of American history pushing everyone else around. The result is that women, minorities and, most recently, (domestically) smaller religions such as Islam have suffered discrimination.

Pelican Bay, on California's north coast, is much too nice a place to build a prison.  Even so, that is the site of the state's highest security lockup, also known as "Slammer by the Sea" and "Dungeness Dungeon."

So what can prisoners read while doing their (usually long) time there?  Scott Graham reports for the Recorder:

Bringing a scholarly take to trashy literature, the First District Court of Appeal ruled Friday that state prison officials can't stop an inmate from reading an erotic romance novel built around human-werewolf relationships.

I wrote recently about US Attorney Bill Killian's snarling threat to demonstrate "what the consequences are" to those with the temerity to say anything "offensive or inflammatory" about Muslims.  If President Obama, who appointed Killian, has done anything to rebuke him, I haven't heard about it.  (Not that rebuking him would be sufficient, and not that Obama has any desire to rebuke him, either).

Violent Crime in U.S. Rises for First Time Since 2006: Preliminary data on crime for 2012 from the FBI confirms that for the first time in six years, the United States experienced an increase in the rate of violent crime.  Timothy Williams of the New York Times reports that the data shows that cities with populations exceeding 500,000 residents experienced the largest increase, including a 12.5% increase in the murder rate.  The last increase in the national rate was in 2006 when violent crime rose by 1.9% after a decline of 17.6% from 1996 to 2005.  The data indicates that increased crime in the Western United States drove the national rate, with over twice the spike in violent crime than the Midwest five times the increase in the South.  The rate in the Northeast actually declined.  The rates for robbery, burglary and other property crimes, which declined in every other region, also climbed in the West, with auto theft increasing by over 10%.  While some experts opine that these increases are due to cuts in police, this does not explain why the West has suffered the most. 

Colorado Theater Killer Pleads Insanity: A decision today by a Colorado judge could ultimately spare accused movie theater killer, James Holmes, from the death penalty.  Carol McKinley of ABC News reports that Holmes' plea of not guilty by reason of insanity was accepted today and will be his defense for the murders of 12 people and injury 70 more.  The next step will be a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation, a time consuming process that could take months to complete.  If convicted,  Holmes could face a death sentence, unless he is determined to be mentally incompetent. 

Crime up in Oakland, much of Bay Area: The F.B.I.'s preliminary report on crime rates for 2012 showed that Bay Area cities suffered disproportionally.  Henry Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that 11 of the 15 largest cities that encompass the Bay Area experienced higher levels of violent crimes in 2012 after a drop in 2011.  Serious violent crimes such as murder, rape, and robbery all increased in Oakland along with increases in property crime resulting in Oakland having the highest per-capita crime rate in the state. Oakland also saw a 29 percent increase in robberies, averaging almost a dozen a day.  Both the Oakland and San Jose police departments suffered budget cuts last year resulting in police lay offs.  San Jose recorded a 10 percent increase in violent crime, along with a jump in homicides from 39 in 2011 to 45 in 2012.    

The US Supreme Court today decided Nevada v. Jackson, No. 12-694:

In this case, the Court of Appeals held that respondent, who was convicted of rape and other serious crimes, is entitled to relief under the federal habeas statute because the Supreme Court of Nevada unreasonably applied clearly established Supreme Court precedent regarding a criminal defendant's constitutional right to present a defense. At his trial, respondent unsuccessfully sought to introduce evidence for the purpose of showing that the rape victim previously reported that he had assaulted her but that the police had been unable to substantiate those allegations. The state supreme court held that this evidence was properly excluded, and no prior decision of this Court clearly establishes that the exclusion of this evidence violated respondent's federal constitutional rights. The decision of the Court of Appeals is therefore reversed.

The "clearly established" standard applied here is the standard set by Congress in its landmark 1996 reform of federal habeas review of state cases, 28 U.S.C. §2254(d).  This is not the first time the Ninth Circuit has been so obviously wrong in applying that statute that  the Supreme Court reversed without the need for merits briefing or oral argument, and without a single justice saying the Ninth was correct.  It is not the second time.  Or the third or fourth or fifth.

When AEDPA was going through Congress, Senator Kyl predicted that this compromise standard would not be applied as Congress intended it.  To a large degree he was correct.  His amendment to give state court decisions the same kind of finality that the decisions of the local D.C. courts receive was defeated back then, but it is time to reconsider it.

Politico tells us that a US Attorney in Tennessee is "vowing to use federal civil rights statutes to clamp down on offensive and inflammatory speech about Islam."

"This is an educational effort with civil rights laws as they play into freedom of religion and exercising freedom of religion," [US Attorney Bill] Killian said about the meeting. "This is also to inform the public what federal laws are in effect and what the consequences are."

"If a Muslim had posted 'How to Wink at a Christian [with a target picture],' could you imagine what would have happened?" Killian asked, according to the newspaper.

The Washington Examiner has a report about Eric Holder's off-the-record meeting with several press outlets.  As I noted earlier, the meeting was designed to give reassurance that DOJ really does respect the First Amendment.  Many, probably most, of the press organizations invited declined to attend a gathering whose substance they would be unable to share with their readers and viewers.

Susan Ferrechio reports Friday [that] most news organizations boycotted on principle Attorney General Eric Holder's offer to join a press conference Thursday  in which he discussed the Obama's White House various efforts to monitor, intimidate and harass journalists. Holder's condition was that the meeting be "off the record," meaning none of the reporters would be allowed to report what was said at the meeting.

Among those who did attend was the Washington Post. Today's Post has an account of the meeting -- sort of. That is, they have a story about what the Justice Department allowed them to say about its efforts to protect press freedom. The result is just beyond parody...

As expected, the California Court of Appeal, First District, today affirmed the decision of the Marin Superior Court that the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation did not follow proper procedures in promulgating its present three-drug execution protocol.  This does not really change the status of the death penalty in California, as that protocol is enjoined by the federal court anyway. 

Most of the procedural issues discussed in the opinion are one-time issues that are unlikely to be repeated when CDCR announces its single-drug protocol, which should be soon.  Indeed, one of the main issues was CDCR's failure to explain why it didn't go for the single drug in the first place.

The opinion completely fails to address the more difficult, more interesting, and more important question.  Is enjoining executions an appropriate remedy?  The Administrative Procedure Act is a law, to be sure, but so is the death penalty.  The APA was never intended to make other laws unenforceable.

But CDCR did not brief these issues, and Presiding Justice Anthony Kline, Jerry Brown's Legal Affairs Secretary in the 70s, blocked our attempt to bring these issues to the attention of the court.  (In California appellate courts, the P.J. makes this decision unilaterally.)

Gov. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, erstwhile Republican and Independent, has joined the Democratic Party.  I am not a Democrat, but this is sad news.  The Party of FDR and Truman deserves better.

It's reported that the embattled Eric Holder, already under scrutiny for seeking wiretaps on a Fox News reporter, clandestinely pulling Associated Press phone records, and repeatedly dissembling in Congressional testimony, is seeking to smooth things over by inviting major press outlets to come in for a little chat about how there's really nothing to worry about.

Reports in the New York Times and Politico, among other sources, have it that President Obama will nominate former Deputy Attorney General James Comey to become head of the FBI when Robert Mueller's term ends in September.

Kent notes a WSJ article about efforts in some states to reform and expedite the death penalty.  The article is worth the read, and attempts to be neutral, but in some places is considerably misleading.  It says, for example:

The efforts to carry out more executions run counter to a growing tide of disenchantment with the death penalty in parts of the country, often because of a widespread belief the death penalty as practiced is costly and inefficient.

Maryland Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley made cost a centerpiece of his successful campaign to get rid of the death penalty earlier this year. The state became the sixth to abolish capital punishment since 2007.

Public support nationwide for capital punishment, at 63%, is near its lowest level in 39 years, according to the most recent Gallup poll on the topic, released in January.

Today a bare majority of the US Supreme Court took a major step in the wrong direction, making the seemingly endless chain of appeals even longer.  In the 1991 case of Coleman v. Thompson, the Court provided a definite cut-off to the practice of perpetually asking for new reviews of a case, each time claiming that the supposed incompetence of the lawyer in the previous review was "cause" for not making the claim on the previous round.  Opposing bogus ineffectiveness claims is one of the most difficult tasks for the prosecution team.  They must defend their former adversary, who often has no interest in helping and sometimes falls on his sword and assists the attack on his own performance.  Further, essential facts are shielded by attorney-client and work-product privileges.  Coleman cleanly cut off the use of ineffectiveness as cause where the constitutional right to counsel ends -- at the first appeal as of right.

Last year in Martinez v. Ryan, the Court made an exception to the rule, but it emphatically promised that the exception would be narrow.  It was only for states that forbid ineffectiveness of trial counsel claims to be raised on direct appeal.

Today in Trevino v. Thaler, the Court broke its promise in Martinez.  It expanded the "exception" to all states where the record on direct appeal is typically inadequate, as a practical matter, to make ineffectiveness claims.  That includes nearly all, if not all, states.  Coleman is effectively overruled in its most important application.  Chief Justice Roberts notes this betrayal in his dissent.  (CJLF's brief made a similar argument.)  Justice Scalia adds a brief note quoting his dissent in Martinez and saying, in essence, "I told you so."

For capital cases, where the problem is most acute, the statutory fix is already in place.  States must move forward aggressively to revive the moribund "fast track" of Chapter 154 of Title 28, U.S. Code.  That chapter includes its own statutory procedural default rule, 28 U.S.C. §2264(a), which does not have the exception announced today.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne has taken the lead.  Other AGs should join him.  Don't retreat.  Charge!