Today's New York Times Kennedy Article: Matthew Franck at Bench Memos has a post discussing why Linda Greenhouse's article on Kennedy made the front page of the New York Times today. The article, summarized in our News Scan, can be found here. As Greenhouse points out in the article, the factual error relied on by the majority opinion went to a "central part of the court’s analysis." In his post, Franck wonders how this error escaped all nine Justices' attention. The oversight is particularly disconcerting because the Kennedy majority based its opinion on its understanding of "evolving standards of decency." This worries Franck because: "When the Court consults "objective evidence of contemporary values," it engages in something other than legal reasoning. When it consults its "own understanding of the Constitution," like as not it is shouting down a well. The echoes that come back will substitute for the authentic Constitution." Jonathan Adler at Volokh Conspiracy also has a post discussing the article.

Federal Sentencing Reporter Articles on Crack Retroactivity: Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy provides a link, and the table of contents, for the latest issue of Federal Sentencing Reporter. The current issue is titled "Debates and Realities Surrounding Crack Retroactivity." It includes observations from Berman, as well as articles from David Yellen, and Judge Gregory Presnell.

International Journal of Law and Psychiatry: Psychology and Crime News provides a link to the June/July issue of the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry International Journal of Law and Psychiatry (Volume 31, Issue 3). The new issue addresses psychopathic traits and risk assessment in children and adolescents. Some of the articles address: identifying psychopathic traits, prediction of violence and risk assessment.