Judge Sotomayor's Property Rights Case:  At PrawfsBlawg, Cornell Law Professor Eduardo Penalver comments on yesterday's New York Times story by Adam Liptak.  The story reviewed the Second Circuit's decision in Didden v. Port Chester, a Fifth Amendment takings clause case with facts that make it "sound like Kelo redux."  The plaintiffs in Didden alleged that the condemnation of their parcel violated the Fifth Amendment's "public use" requirement, and the trial court dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.  The Second Circuit affirmed on both the statute of limitations and under Kelo v. New London, holding that economic development constitutes an adequate "public use."  Penalver comments that Liptak's argument is "fairly one-sided," and criticizes Liptak for quoting only Ilya Somin and Richard Epstein, two scholars with "well known" ideological commitments, in his story.  Penalver also believes that Judge Sotomayor should come under some criticism for her role as senior judge in Didden (This Washington Times Op-ed is one example), because, even though the "result the panel reached was probably the correct one" the District Court's decision "was potentially far-reaching and troubling."  Amy Harder, at The Ninth Justice, confirms Penalver's belief that Judge Sotomayor will be questioned about Didden. Harder reports that a NationalJournal.com poll shows Didden v. Port Chester could be heavily discussed during the Judge's confirmation hearings.  And,at Volokh Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler reports on Jeffrey Rosen's upcoming article in The New Republic.  In his article Rosen concludes, that based on Judge Sotomayor's dissenting opinions she is "quite liberal" and could help push the court to the left in criminal cases.      

Lethal Injection Adopted in China:  Doug Berman posts on Sentencing Law and Policy that China plans to adopt lethal injection as its method of execution by the end of the year.  A Reuters article explains that Chinese law officials plan to phase out firing squads and switch to lethal injection.  China's Supreme People's Court director, Hu Yunteng stated that China planned to adopt lethal injection "[a]s lethal injection is the most popular method for execution adopted by countries with capital punishment, China will follow suit ... it is considered more humane."

A Western Push for States' Rights:  At Wall Street Journal Blog, Ashby Jones posts a link to a LA Times article that reports "Western States Want Reins on Federal Power."  From Bozeman, MT, Mark Z. Barabak reports that "[f]rustrated by the expanded power of Washington, a growing number of state lawmakers are defying the federal government and passing legislation aimed at rolling back the reach of Congress and President Obama."  Apparently, in hopes of a "constitutional showdown" Montana's Firearms Freedom Act seeks to exempt from federal regulation any firearm, gun component or ammunition made and kept within the state's borders.   It is an effort to "curtail Washington's ability to set policy on a wide range of issues, including education, civil rights, law enforcement and land use."  Jones reports that recent legislation in Tennessee has also exempted Tennessee from federal gun legislation, and Utah may soon follow suit.