89 year old Manhattan DA to step down: After 35 years as "a prosecutor who has locked up murderous mobsters, corrupt CEOs and thousands of other criminals for five decades," Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau will not run for re-election, reported in an article by Samuel Maull, of the Associated Press. During the interval when New York had a death penalty, Morgenthau was notorious for his refusal to use it under any circumstances.

Conviction without body: Placer County has successfully prosecuted their first murder case without a body. The Associated Press writes, "a state appeals court has upheld a conviction for the murder in 2005 of a 27-year-old woman who was last seen leaving a Placer County tribal casino." According to the Third District Court of Appeals in Sacramento, there was enough evidence for the conviction and the convicted will serve a 59 years-to-life sentence.

Strained budget excuse to abolish death penalty?: In an article by Diane Jennings of the Dallas Morning News, "death penalty opponents across the country are using the plight of strained state budgets as an added reason to abolish the final sanction." In Texas, the leading state of death penalty executions, those efforts will not work. While the argument of cost has become the debated issue, Dudley Sharp, who monitors death penalty legislation said, "expense 'should not be the primary factor,' for "it's like saying, 'incarceration costs more than probation, so we should get rid of incarceration and only probate people.' It's ridiculous." CJLF's recent study calling into question the premise that repeal would save money is discussed in this post.