Western Australia Liberal MP Rob Johnson seeks to reintroduce the death penalty there, based on the overwhelming views of his constituents. He concedes the chances of his party endorsing the change are remote. Joe Spagnolo reports for Perth Now.

"The family of a murder victim is furious with the idea of a kinder, gentler death penalty in Florida," reports WESH.com. "I just want to scream. I can't believe it," said Junny Rios Martinez. "New procedures, standards of decency, concept of dignity and advances of science. Where was that when this maggot [Mark Schwab] kidnapped, tortured and murdered my son?"

Sen. Dianne Feinstein is being attacked for casting the deciding vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee for Fifth Circuit nominee Leslie Southwick, Bob Egelko reports in the SF Chron. Southwick has been the target of a smear campaign. Sen. Feinstein's courageous vote is denounced by the usual contrarian indicators: Nan Aron, Barbara Lee, and Maxine Waters.

"Rwandan Justice Minister Tharcisse Karugarama said Thursday that Rwanda has signed extradition treaties with countries in Africa, Europe, and North America following its abolition of the death penalty in July. The law ending the death penalty, which took effect July 25, was largely motivated by Rwanda's desire to receive extradited suspects accused of crimes in the 1994 Rwandan genocide," reports Michael Sung of JURIST at U. Pitt. Law School.

Citizens Using the Internet to Solve Crimes A murdered father. A missing brother. Precious items stolen from one's home. These sorts of crimes are prompting ordinary citizens to fight back, and the weapon they're using is the Internet. Police forces around the country are having difficulty keeping up with their case loads and victims of crime, who want the perps caught, are using the internet to help give their cases more exposure. This story from ABC news has a few examples of how citizens have been using the internet to help police solve crimes as it introduces a new series called I-Caught.

Florida Law aims to sort sex offenders from 'Romeos’ Under Florida law, 18-year-olds who ave sex with 17-year-olds are listed in the state's database of sexual predators. This story in the Orlando Sentinel explores how a new law offers a way for such offenders to have their name removed from the data base. Denis deVlaming, an attorney for a man branded as a sex offender, says that teenagers experimenting with sex with another “should not be lumped in with the predators.”

Trial Starts in 24-year-old Mass Murder Case
The Houston Chronicle reports here that twenty-four years after five people were taken from a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Kilgore, Texas, and murdered, the jury selection begins this week for one of two people charged with the crime. Romeo Pinkerton faces five counts of capital murder and a possible death sentence if convicted. His accomplice and cousin, Darnell Hartsfield, will be tried separately sometime next year.

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