Texas to Resume Executions Following Nationwide Pause: The Associated Press reports that, on Monday, the highest court in Texas turned aside an appeal to challenge the constitutionality of Texas's lethal injection procedures, allowing plans to move forward to execute Karl Chamberlain on Wednesday. Chamberlain was convicted of the 1991 rape-murder of a 30-year-old Dallas woman.

Virginia Governor Halts Execution of Triple Murderer, Cites Mental State: David Soetz for ABC News reports that Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia has announced that he will commute the death sentence of Percy Levar Walton, a convicted triple murderer, because he does not believe that the inmate meets the mental competency requirements for execution.

Important Victory for Children, Children's Advocates: Peter Whoriskey of the Washington Post reports that large Internet providers Sprint, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon will block connections to Websites or news groups that offer child pornography. The decision marks an important step in protecting children from exploitation by attacking the supply of child pornography instead of merely individual users.

u r gil T: From the Northern (England) Echo comes this story by Owen Amos on the application of forensic linguistics to text messaging. David Hodgson sent text messages from the phone of 19-year-old Jenny Nicholl, whom he had murdered days earlier, to try to convince her friends and family she was still alive. (Hat tip: Psychology and Crime News)