Dakota Voice (South Dakota) has this article today titled “Death Penalty Polls: Support Remains Very High” by guest columnist Dudley Sharp with Justice Matters. Sharp’s article finds that 66% of Americans believe capital punishment is acceptable according to a May 2007 Gallup Poll. As noted in the article, the death penalty for terrorists is supported by a whopping 79%, including some of the same people who are against the death penalty in general. The article is definitely worth reading.

South Dakota execution: After a 60-year drought, South Dakota has an execution scheduled tomorrow for murderer Elijah Page. 19-year-old Chester Allen Poage, a witness to a theft, was tortured, beaten, and murdered in 2000 by Elijah Page, Briley Piper and Darrell Hoadley. Piper is also on death row for the killing, while Hoadley is serving a life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. 25-year-old Elijah Page has asked to end his appeals and speed up his death sentence. However, his attorney has stated that Page can still call off his own execution and restart the appeals process if he chooses to do so. South Dakota’s Argus Leader article states that this particular case is “unusual because a judge, not a jury, imposed the death sentence.”

Rosebirds in the Garden (State): Joel Jacobsen at Judging Crimes has this entertaining (if not quite 100% accurate) post comparing the current New Jersey Supreme Court with the pre-1986 California Supreme Court in death penalty matters.

Crack: Debra Saunders at the SF Chron weighs in on the crack/powder problem and the Biden bill.