Schwarzenegger Backs Down on DP Procedures:  A story by Howard Mintz in the San Jose Mercury News reports that, rather than seek Supreme Court review of a questionable San Francisco Appeals Court ruling which blocked enforcement of the death penalty, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has decided to comply with the ruling, which announced that death penalty procedures must be adopted through an administrative process which includes public comment from those affected, i.e. condemned murderers.  The Deputy Attorney General handling the issue said the state has no timetable for beginning the process.  While there is no guarantee that the Supreme Court would have overturned the appellate ruling, a strong argument could be made that administrative hearings are not required for execution procedures.  There is also the  question of why the governor did not begin jumping through the administrative hoops in 2007, when the Marin County Superior Court decided this case, in parallel with the appeal.