The Duke Debacle is the title of this editorial in the Washington Post. "[T]he Pavlovian politically correct response among some at Duke University, who bemoaned 'white privilege' and were quick to dispense with any presumptions of innocence, is embarrassing in hindsight." In hindsight?

IQ scores are not the main determinant when considering if a person is mentally retarded in death penalty cases, California Supreme Court ruled yesterday. Bob Egelko's article in the San Francisco Chronicle explains that "if a judge finds [the defendant] to be significantly impaired regardless of his IQ," the defendant can get up to life without parole. Jorge Vidal was charged with the murder and torture of Eric Jones. His pretrial hearing showed an IQ score of 78-92. The Supreme Court ruled that "all evidence about the defendant's 'intellectual functioning' must be considered under California law," not IQ alone.

Life without parole for Missouri serial killer Lorenzo Gilyard (56). He was convicted of the murder of 6 women after DNA testing from semen on the victims linked him to the crime. The article by Heather Hollingsworth reports that a bench trial agreement by Gilyard's defense, eliminated a death sentence. Gilyard is linked to 13 killings, but was only convicted of 6. He was acquitted for one of the 7 dropped because of only speculation on behalf of prosecution. The remaining 6 could be filed again.

$42 million racial discrimination suit was thrown out by the court of Appeals in Los Angeles. The suit by 500 L.A. County Police claimed that race was the reason officers received lower pay (70% minority) than officers in the Sheriff's Department (70% white), according to this AP story. The Court however found that "race did not bar...officers from applying for higher-paying Sheriff's Department jobs."