The Gallup Poll shows support for the death penalty essentially steady, with 65% answering "yes" to Gallup's traditional question, an insignificant change from last year's 66%. (As we have noted before, the traditional question understates public support by implying that the respondent is being asked to specify a single punishment for all murderers, not just the worst.) This report by Lydia Saad of Gallup, free for a limited time, emphasizes the racial differences in responses. The myth that the death penalty is imposed disproportionately on black defendants, despite the opponents' own studies showing the contrary, is doubtless a large part of the lack of support among black Americans and the resulting lesser justice and protection for black victims of crime. More on this is available in Kent Scheidegger's 2003 article on the racial studies.

Gov. Signs Warrant for Killer’s Execution
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports here that on Wednesday, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a warrant authorizing the execution of a man convicted of killing four members of a family, including the fetus of the pregnant daughter. Mark Duane Edwards, Jr. is scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 19th for the April 2002 murders of the Bobish family, after breaking into their mobile home to avoid a drug debt. However, the case has only finished the first round of appeals, direct appeal through denial of certiorari by the Supreme Court, so this date will doubtless be stayed.

Supreme Court "too conservative”? An article in the Washington Post on Sunday reports that although half of Americans think that the Court is balanced, a growing number of Americans say that the Supreme Court has become “too conservative” in the two years since President Bush began nominating justices. An ABC News story by Gary Langer has a link to the actual poll results. Overall, 47% think the Court is about right, 31% too conservative, and 18% too liberal.

New Hampshire collecting DNA from parolees: The Boston Globe reports that New Hampshire's Corrections Department will begin collecting DNA samples from sexual or violent offenders on parole or probation so that police around the country can compare samples in criminal investigations.