Filling A Supreme Court Vacancy: Over at Convictions, Doug Kmiec posted his thoughts on who the next President should appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court. Kmiec's post begins with comments on why each of the candidates, McCain in particular, have failed to make Supreme Court appointments an issue thus far in the campaign. He them predicts that while the next nominee will be female, he hopes the next nominee will be Carter G. Phillips, the managing partner of the Sidley Austin law firm in Washington, D.C.. Kmiec, an advocate of Justices like Roberts and Alito, cites Phillips experience of arguing five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, as well as "his impartial legal judgment, personal integrity, and genuine friendship and assistance to his fellow members of the bar and to his community[,]" as reasons for Phillips appointment.

Assessing the Effects of U.S. Incarceration: Hattip to Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy for pointing us to an article by political scientist Marie Gottschalk. The article, titled "Hiding in Plain Sight: American Politics and the Carceral State," discusses the connection between politics and the origins of the carceral state. The abstract to the article argues, "[t]he carceral state has grown so huge that it has begun to transform fundamental democratic institutions, from free and fair elections to an accurate and representative census." While the article in not available for free on-line, a link to purchase the article can be found here.

Prosecutor Discretion in Death Penalty Cases: Berman also posted a comment on an article in Missouri's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, discussing the different approaches that different prosecutors take when they consider pursuing a death sentence. Criminal Justice Legal Foundation's Michael Rushford is quoted in the article.

Roe v. Wade's Effect on Crime: Paul Cassell discusses whether Roe v. Wade reduced crime over at the Volokh Conspiracy. According to Cassell, the theory that Roe reduced crime, by decreasing the number of "unwanted children," has been advanced by economists like Steven Levitt. Cassell's post discusses an article by John Lott Jr. The article argues that Roe actually increased crime and points to the "clear link between single-parent families and crime."