Kansas' Death Penalty Debate: Doug Berman has a post on Sentencing Law and Policy with a link to an article in the Topeka Capital-Journal. The article discusses the debate over Senate Bill 208, which will remove the death penalty as a sentencing option after July 1, 2009. According to the article, and Berman's post, opponents of the death penalty have made the same arguments (morally wrong and too expensive) in support of the Bill. In addition, supporters argue that Senate Bill 208 should pass because inmates with a pending death sentence will remain on death row. Kansas' Attorney General Steve Six believes that abolition of capital punishment for future offenders will trigger new appeals by anyone facing execution in Kansas. This means that some of Kansas' most notorious murderers could avoid execution and spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The Second Amendment, Originalists, and Chicago: At Wall Street Journal Blog, Ashby Jones posts his summary of Jess Bravin's piece in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, "Rethinking Original Intent." The piece centers around a Chicago gun-control case that raises the issue of whether the Second Amendment restricts the city's ability to limit the use of handguns. According to Jones and Bravin, the issue was not covered by D.C. v. Heller because, unlike Heller, the Chicago case deals with a state statute. Since the case addresses a state law, and not a federal rule, the issue becomes whether the Supreme Court's ruling in Presser v. Illinois - that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states - is still valid precedent. Both Jones' post, and Bravin's piece, focus on how else the Supreme Court might make the Second Amendment binding on the states.
Legal Times to Merge with The National Law Journal: David Ingram writes on Blog of the Legal Times that Legal Times will merge with The National Law Journal. The new publication will focus on national legal news, with a special emphasis on Washington, D.C. The current editor and publisher of the Legal Times will become the editor in chief of the new National Law Journal, and the current publisher of The National Law Journal will continue in that role. The National Law Journal's website will also be redesigned to include the Blog of the Legal Times. According to the press release, the first publication of the updated National Law Journal will be available in May. Orin Kerr also has this post on the merger at Volokh Conspiracy.
The Second Amendment, Originalists, and Chicago: At Wall Street Journal Blog, Ashby Jones posts his summary of Jess Bravin's piece in Saturday's Wall Street Journal, "Rethinking Original Intent." The piece centers around a Chicago gun-control case that raises the issue of whether the Second Amendment restricts the city's ability to limit the use of handguns. According to Jones and Bravin, the issue was not covered by D.C. v. Heller because, unlike Heller, the Chicago case deals with a state statute. Since the case addresses a state law, and not a federal rule, the issue becomes whether the Supreme Court's ruling in Presser v. Illinois - that the Second Amendment does not apply to the states - is still valid precedent. Both Jones' post, and Bravin's piece, focus on how else the Supreme Court might make the Second Amendment binding on the states.
Legal Times to Merge with The National Law Journal: David Ingram writes on Blog of the Legal Times that Legal Times will merge with The National Law Journal. The new publication will focus on national legal news, with a special emphasis on Washington, D.C. The current editor and publisher of the Legal Times will become the editor in chief of the new National Law Journal, and the current publisher of The National Law Journal will continue in that role. The National Law Journal's website will also be redesigned to include the Blog of the Legal Times. According to the press release, the first publication of the updated National Law Journal will be available in May. Orin Kerr also has this post on the merger at Volokh Conspiracy.
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