Rules Limiting Sex Offenders On Halloween Blocked: AP writer Jim Salter reports that a federal judge has ruled that parts of Missouri's new law restricting registered sex offenders' actions on Halloween night are unenforceable, saying the law lacked clarity and could cause confusion for sex offenders and those charged with enforcing it. The law, signed by Gov. Matt Blunt in June, requires that sex offenders avoid all Halloween-related contact with children from 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 31. It allowed sex offenders to leave home on Halloween night if there is "just cause" such as work or an emergency. The judge upheld two provisions: the provision requiring sex offenders to keep their porch lights off; and the requirement for a sign that reads, "No candy or treats at this residence."

Killer Of 7-Year-Old Girl to be Executed Today According to a story by AP writer Michael Graczyk, a former plumbling supply salesman convicted of snatching a 7-year-old girl from his neighborhood outside Houston then strangling and raping her and hiding her body in his attic was headed to the Texas death chamber today. Eric Nenno confessed to abducting and attacking Nicole Benton two days after she disappeared from her father's birthday party. Nenno will be the 13th Texas inmate executed this year and the fourth this month in the nation's most active death penalty state. Another execution is scheduled for Thursday.
Update: Post-execution story is here.

Obama's 'Redistribution' Constitution: A Wall Street Journal editorial by Steven G. Calabresi suggests that the net result of Barack Obama winning the presidency will be to restore to the left a majority on the D.C. Circuit court, "the nation's most important regulatory court of appeals." According to the article, nine of the 13 other circuits (not including the already left Ninth Circuit) will probably swing to the left if Mr. Obama is elected. There is also a widespread expectation that the next president could make four appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court in his first term, with maybe two more in a second term. Calabresi, a Northwestern law Professor asserts that "the very idea of liberty and the rule of law are at stake in this election. We should not let Mr. Obama replace justice with empathy in our nation's courtrooms."