"Right and Left Join Forces on Criminal Justice":  New York Times writer Adam Liptak reports on the Supreme Court's 2009-2010 docket.  He reports that this term, the Court "will decide at least half-dozen cases involving the rights of people accused of crimes involving drugs, sex and corruption."  Civil liberties groups and associations of defense lawyers have lined up on the side of the accused, and so have conservative, libertarian and business groups.  Liptak comments that briefs and public statements signal an emerging consensus that the criminal justice system is an aspect of big government and must be contained.  Norman L. Reimer, executive director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers stated, "The left and the right have bent to the point where they are now in agreement on many issues.  In the area of criminal justice, the whole idea of less government, less intrusion, less regulation has taken hold."  Vague laws that lead to overcriminalization are at the heart of the conservative critique of crime policy.  Edwin Meese III, a Distinguished Fellow at The Heritage Foundation, said the "liberal ideas of extending the power of the state" were to blame for an out-of-control criminal justice system.  He believes that "[o]ur tradition has always been to construe criminal laws narrowly to protect people from the power of the state."

Obama and His Turkey:  The San Francisco Chronicle's Debra J. Saunders writes that on Wednesday, President Obama will issue the White House's standard hokey pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey - a tradition of the office.  She comments that while this is good for the turkey, it seems strange "because, nine months into office, Obama has yet to exercise his presidential pardon power."  The President has not pardoned a single offender, although 1,200 have asked for pardons and 2,000 inmates asking for commutations.  According to Professor P.S. Ruckman Jr. of Rock Valley College in Illinois, President Obama has taken longer to use the executive pardon and commutation power than all but four presidents - George Washington, John Adams, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.