During Justice Alito's confirmation, some of his detractors claimed he would be a clone of Justice Scalia. Persons of sense knew the claim was nonsense at the time, and recent decisions confirm that, as noted by Orin Kerr at the Volokh Conspiracy and Tony Mauro at BLT. Those who forget history are, once again, condemned to repeat it. The people who called Burger and Blackmun the "Minnesota Twins" ended up looking foolish, also.

Killer's Video: Steven Rubenstein, Henry K. Lee, and John King of the San Francisco Chronicle have an article today on the appropriateness of broadcasting Virginia Tech murderer Cho Seung-Hui's video that explains why he went on a killing rampage, and his comparison to Jesus Christ. The video was sent to the media during the two-hour time gap between the killings. The article gives different opinions on the video, stating that most believe the media is, "glamorizing this for people who will want to be copycats" (Anna Rodriguez).

Panetti News: News 8 Austin in Texas reported today on Panetti v.Quarterman, a case that CJLF has joined. The article explains that the Supreme Court could take "several months" to decide whether or not Scott Panetti will be sentenced to death for the murders of his in-laws in 1992. The Court must decide if Panetti is truly insane. A more in-depth posting by Kent Scheidegger on the Panetti case is here.

Attempted Burglary Strike: The Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision Wednesday in Washington, ruled that Alphonso James of Florida was "eligible for [a longer prison term] under the Armed Career Criminal Act." The Act provides that three prior convictions of violent felonies or serious drug offenses can qualify a defendant for a longer term. The defendant argued that attempted burglary should not be considered a violent felony. The full article by Pete Yost of the Associated Press can be found here.