Rule Protecting Illegals Upheld:  A taxpayer's challenge to Special Order 40, a rule which prohibits LAPD officers from initiating police action solely to discover the immigration status of an individual and then arrest him for illegal entry into the United States, was rejected yesterday by California's Second District Court of Appeal.  The Court's unanimous ruling in Sturgeon v. Bratton et al, held that while federal law prohibits local rules restricting the exchange information regarding illegal immigration between local entities and ICE, federal law does not bar restrictions on obtaining information.  An AP story by Bob Egelko reports that the ruling may have implications on San Francisco's sanctuary ordinance which contains a virtually identical provision.  

Double Murderer's Death Sentence Overturned:  The Delaware Supreme Court has ordered a new sentencing hearing for Allison Lamont Norman, who was convicted in 2007 for killing two people in a crime spree through Maryland and Delaware.  A story from Wilmington's News Journal reports that in addition to the two deaths, Norman injured four others during the 2005 crime spree. The Court's ruling concluded that the sentencing judge and jury improperly failed to consider mitigating evidence regarding Norman's murder of the Maryland victim.  According to court records Norman shot and killed minister DeVondale Peters in Salisbury, MD after commandeering his SUV.