President Approves Soldier's Execution for Murder: A request to execute a member of the military has not been made since 1962, and one hasn't been granted since 1957. That changed yesterday when President Bush approved the execution of Army Private Ronald A. Gray, who was convicted in 1988 of 4 murders and 8 rapes. According to Dan Eggen's WA Post article, it will likely be several more years before an execution could occur due to anticipated "legal challenges".

Justice Department Probe Confirms Illegal Hiring Bias: Federal law prohibits political or ideological hiring for career civil-service jobs, but a recent internal investigation of the Justice Department revealed several violations by former senior department officials. According to Evan Perez's WSJ report, most violations occurred in a system designed to screen candidates for positions as immigration judges.

SF 'Road Rage' Slaying Gang Related: According to Bob Egelko's SF Chronicle story, SF police say the supposed "road rage" incident that left Tony Bologna and his two sons dead was actually a case of gang violence. Edwin Ramos, a suspected member of the Salvadoran gang MS-13, opened fire on the Bologna's car after mistakenly identifying Bologna's sons as members of a rival gang.