Fact Checking, Morality and the Death Penalty:  Yesterday, Judging Crimes blogger Joel Jacobsen posted his thoughts on Sarah Palin and Stephen Reinhardt.  The connection may not be entirely obvious, but Jacobsen makes his point quickly.  First, Jacobsen takes a look at the criticism that Sarah Palin is getting for not fact-checking her new book.  He then points out that the criticism is unfair when one considers that the media has yet to attack Stephen Reinhardt "despite this weeks ritual Supreme Court per curiam slapdown" in Belmontes.  As Kent pointed out on Monday, the Supreme Court's decision marks the third time the Supreme Court has vacated the Ninth Circuit (and Reinhardt's) decision in Belmontes' case.  Jacobsen argues the "slapdown" occurred because of Reinhardt's take on the facts.  Jacobsen believes that for some judges "their opposition to the death penalty is of such overriding moral significance that the law and the facts don't matter, and in particular the violent death of a 19-year-old girl doesn't matter.  They find it easy to dismiss her suffering..."  Ed Whalen also has a post on NRO's Bench Memos critiquing Judge Reinhardt. 

Thin Line Between Life and Death:  At Women in Crime Ink, blogger Donna Pendergast posts on the gruesome 1989 murders of Wanda and Glenn Tarr by Joseph Passeno and Bruce (Christoper) Michaels.  The two were arrested, after bragging about their "thrill kill" to schoolmates, and sentenced as adults to life in prison without parole.  Pendergast then goes on to discuss Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida. She argues that while Sullivan and Graham have generated debate on rehabilitation, she believes an "antisocial predator who has spent years or decades in prison is extremely unlikely to be able to reintegrate into society."  She writes, "as a prosecutor, I want [the LWOP for juveniles] tool in my arsenal."  

Electric Chair Execution:  CrimProf Blog links to a Jurist article by Jaclyn Belczyk reporting on the Tuesday execution of Larry Bill Elliott.  Elliott was convicted of a 2001 double murder and chose to be electrocuted by electric chair. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine refused to intervene, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay.  Belczyk writes that the last execution via electrocution occurred in South Carolina in June 2008.

SCOTUS "Academic Round-up":  SCOTUSblog writer David Stras posts that Stefanie Lepore has published "The Development of the Supreme Court Practice of Calling for the Views of the Solicitor General" on SSRN.  The article discusses the Solicitor General's role as a "a special type of amicus" who gets to act as adviser and advocate to the Supreme Court, and respond to the Court's invitation to express the views of the United States in given petitions for certiorari.  It tracks the development of the Solicitor General's role as "the Tenth Justice," and argues the relationship is mutually beneficial for the Court and the S.G. Stras notes that while there are many empirical articles that show the importance of the Solicitor General in persuading the Court to grant cases, Lepore's article is the first article he has read "that actually traces the history of the device to its origins."