Should Bush Issue More Pardons? An editorial in today’s San Francisco Chronicle suggests that President Bush's reluctance to give pardons may be because Former President Clinton issued 140 last minute pardons to unworthy recipients including Marc Rich who was indicted in 1983 for tax evasion. It may also have something to do with Roger Adams, who, until recently, served as the Department of Justice Pardon Attorney for both the Clinton and Bush Administrations. Adams was replaced after a 2007 General Inspector’s audit, cited him for describing a drug offender's pardon application as "about as honest as you could expect from a Nigerian."

Daily Crime Reports by Email
Greg Whisenant founded Crimereports.com after a stranger in his building turned out to be a burglar. A neighborhood meeting ensued and led Whisenant to ask, with the latest technologies available, "Why can't we have some kind of alert system...?" According to this story by Brian Bergstein in today's SF Chronicle, the Crimereports.com website extracts information from police databases instead of newspapers like most alert systems. Whisenant's service provides free daily emails, with reports on crimes in specific neighborhoods. He currently has 40 law enforcement agencies signed up and the website is free of advertising.

Military to Seek Death Penalty for six detainees charged with playing key roles in the 9/11 attacks. A story by William Glaberson in today's New York Times quotes two law professors and unnamed lawyers who believe the process will be lengthy, complex and risky. The piece also suggests that because death sentences will be sought, the friction between the U.S. and European critics of capital punishment will increase. It would be interesting to see polling of the citizens of England, France, Spain and Germany and others who have suffered terrorist attacks to find out if they share their governments' views regarding these defendants.