Sixth Circuit Denies Habeas to First Woman Sentenced to Death in Tennessee:  Jonathan Adler has a post at Volokh Conspiracy discussing the Sixth Circuit's divided denial of a habeas appeal in Owens v. Guida.  As Ken Whitehouse of the Nashville Post reports, this places Gaile K. Owens "one step closer to the death chamber."  Gaile Owens was convicted and sentenced to death for hiring a man to kill her husband in 1985.  The man who killed her husband, Sidney Porterfield, was also sentenced to death. The court apparently divided over whether Owens received ineffective assistance of counsel because she failed to cooperate fully in her own defense and her her attorney neglected to pursue her mitigation defense that her husband was so cruel and sadistic that, to quote Adler, "he just needed killing."  Adler's post provides breakouts of the majority and dissenting opinions to illustrate the split. 

When Budget Gets Tight New Hampshire Gets Soft on Prisoners:  At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman has a post on a story from New Hampshire's Union Leader reporting on Corrections Commissioner William Wrenn's decision to use his power to intercede when an inmate wants to ask for a sentence suspension for those prisoners who wish to pursue higher education.  The announcement comes at a time when Wrenn has been placed under orders to cut his budgets for the next two years, and he hopes the policy will help the department save money.  New Hampshire state law allows an inmate to ask the judge who imposed his sentence to suspend part of it after he has served the greater of four years, or two-thirds of the minimum term.  Commissioner Wrenn has stated he will forward the petition to the judge when he believes suspension is justified, particularly if the inmate is pursuing a high school or college degree. Wrenn's policy will set stricter standards for those petitioners convicted of violent crimes, and excludes repeat offenders, sex offenders, and those convicted of capital crimes.