City Crime Rates. The AP reports here on a rank-ordered list of cities from safest to most dangerous, based on the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports. Where is New Orleans on the list, one might ask? It isn't. One of the problems in crime research is that the cities in deepest crisis sometimes have no data, because the reports that provide the raw data are a low-priority task for police departments and among the first things to be cut.

Md. AG. The Washington Post endorses Douglas Gansler for Maryland Attorney General, while hoping that he "learns the art of understatement." As the Democratic nominee, the Post notes his election is nearly certain, as no Republican has won this office since 1919.

Mental Health Reform. In Sunday's Post is this editorial calling for mental health reform in Virginia. The Post notes that overly restrictive civil commitment criteria are part of the reason too many mentally ill people are in jail. As so often happens, yesterday's "reform" is today's problem in need of reforming.