Death Penalty: Columnist Laurence Cohen has this thought-provoking piece in today's Hartford Courant. He suggests that while the death penalty is the law in Connecticut, it will not be enforced, even for the pair who raped and killed Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her two daughters because "cowardly politicians and judges" won't allow it. He may be correct, but occasionally a particularly horrific crime can generate enough public outrage to frighten elected officials into doing their jobs.

Commutation: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has commuted the death sentence of murderer Michael Joe Boyd due to "grossly inadequate legal representation" during his post-conviction hearings as reported in this Associated Press story by Kristin M. Hall. Boyd, who was convicted of robbery/murder in 1986, had a prior conviction for second degree murder.