Prisons New York's Fishkill prison may be the first in the nation to maintain a dementia unit for inmates suffering from the mental illness according to this Associated Press story by Michael Hill. The average age of inmates in the unit is 62.

Night Stalker The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal challenging the conviction and death sentence of Richard Ramirez, as reported in this Associated Press story. Ramirez, nicknamed the "night stalker", was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of thirteen people in the Los Angeles area between 1984 and 1985. The California Supreme Court's 2006 affirmance on the first appeal of this 1989 judgment (yes, really) is here.

Cop Killer The Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision which overturned the conviction and death sentence of Jackson Daniels, Jr. Daniels had been found guilty of the 1982 murders of two Riverside, CA police officers according to this Associated Press story. A Ninth Circuit panel concluded that his two trial attorneys were too inexperienced to effectively represent him, and that Daniels should have received a change of venue due to pretrial publicity.

Ohio Execution: James Taranto at OpinionJournal.com has this comment (halfway down the page) on the Ohio execution of Christopher Newton and the press coverage of its 16 minute duration. He notes that is at least 11 times more swift than Jason Brewer's death at Newton's hands.

The Panetti case hasn't been decided yet, but a minor detail like that won't stop The Onion from reporting on the decision. "The entirely indeterminate ruling is a first for the high court." Oh, if only that were true. (h/t SL&P)

Supreme Speculation: In the Washington Post, Robert Barnes compares opinion-author prediction to the board game Clue. Tom Goldstein compares it with Sudoku.