Ohio's Death Row: Doug Berman posts a link to the Ohio AG's Capital Crimes Annual Report for 2008 at Sentencing Law and Policy (and for those who don't want to read the entire report, he also provides a link to the press release). According to Berman, Ohio law requires the AG to produce an annual report that details the status of all individuals sentenced to death in the state. According to Alan Johnson of The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio's death row "is shrinking due
to both executions and successful legal appeals." The report also shows fewer people are also being sentenced to death. In 2008, three new death sentences were imposed in Ohio, and 53 death sentences were imposed from 2000 through 2008. Berman also links to an AP article that quotes Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray as saying the death penalty appeals process is still too long and sometimes defeats the possibility of justice being done. Berman seems surprised by this quote, particularly Cordray's rejection of the argument that the death penalty should be eliminated because cases take too long and cost too much.
Holder Drops All Charges Against Ted Stevens: At Wall Street Journal Blog, Ashby Jones reports on this morning's announcement that AG Eric Holder is dropping all the charges against Stevens, who was convicted last year on corruption charges. Jones reports that Holder reviewed the case because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, specifically that four prosecutors had failed to give defense attorneys documents concerning allegations of misconduct by members of the government's legal team. Mike Scarcella, of Law.com, has this article on Holder's announcement.
Explaining the Justice Souter Bobblehead (No Foolin'): At Blog of the Legal Times, Tony Mauro posts that The Green Bag has delivered the Justice Souter bobblehead just in time for April Fool's day. The new bobblehead joins five other dolls created to depict the sitting Justices. If you scroll down to glimpse the photo of the doll you'll notice that the doll is wearing a gold chain and sitting in a lifeguard's chair. Mauro explains that the gold chain replicates the jewelry worn by members of the 2 Live Crew rap group that Souter wrote about in his 1994 decision Campbell v. Acuff Music, while the lifeguard stand represents Souter's 1998 ruling in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, in which the city was held liable for sexual harassment committed by supervisors against lifeguard Beth Faragher.
Holder Drops All Charges Against Ted Stevens: At Wall Street Journal Blog, Ashby Jones reports on this morning's announcement that AG Eric Holder is dropping all the charges against Stevens, who was convicted last year on corruption charges. Jones reports that Holder reviewed the case because of allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, specifically that four prosecutors had failed to give defense attorneys documents concerning allegations of misconduct by members of the government's legal team. Mike Scarcella, of Law.com, has this article on Holder's announcement.
Explaining the Justice Souter Bobblehead (No Foolin'): At Blog of the Legal Times, Tony Mauro posts that The Green Bag has delivered the Justice Souter bobblehead just in time for April Fool's day. The new bobblehead joins five other dolls created to depict the sitting Justices. If you scroll down to glimpse the photo of the doll you'll notice that the doll is wearing a gold chain and sitting in a lifeguard's chair. Mauro explains that the gold chain replicates the jewelry worn by members of the 2 Live Crew rap group that Souter wrote about in his 1994 decision Campbell v. Acuff Music, while the lifeguard stand represents Souter's 1998 ruling in Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, in which the city was held liable for sexual harassment committed by supervisors against lifeguard Beth Faragher.
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