Court Comments on Constitutionality of Death Row Delay:  Lyle Denniston writes on SCOTUSblog that about an hour before Cecil C. Johnson, 53, was put to death by lethal injection today, Justice Stevens, in an opinion that Justice Breyer joined, commented on what Justice Stevens called the "underlying evils of intolerable delay" in Johnson's case.  Johnson was convicted and sentenced to death for three brutal murders he committed in the course of a robbery, he spent 29 years on death row.  According to Justice Stevens, "Johnson bears little, if any, responsibility for this delay."  For those familiar with Justice Stevens' stance on the death penalty, his opinion today, that he "remain[s] steadfast in my view 'that executing defendants after such delays is unacceptably cruel,' " is no surprise. Of course, neither is Justice Thomas' response to the Stevens opinion.  Justice Thomas rejects Justice Stevens' "novel" argument that "lengthy and inhumane delay" would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual" punishment.  He writes, "I was unaware of any constitutional support for the argument then."  Marcia Coyle also discusses the "Death Clash at the High Court" on Blog of Legal Times.   Update: Ed Whelan has this post on the opinions at Bench Memos, titled "Justice Stevens' Bizarro World."

Shifting Blame for Clemmons Tragedy:  At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman writes that the more he "think[s] about [Clemmons'] case and hear[s] details about Mike Huckabee's 2000 clemency decision, the more I want to be sure some blame gets directed toward the poor state of modern re-entry services and the inadequate use of sophisticated risk assessment tools."  Berman links to a Seattle Times article by Nick Perry, Maureen O'Hagan, Jonathan Martin and Ken Armstrong that reports that Maurice Clemmons began to become mentally unhinged back in May.  The reporters write that on May 9th something set Clemmons off and he began throwing rocks at houses, cars and people. He was arrested, let out on bail, and then rearrested in July for failing to appear for his May arraignment.  Clemmons was eventually paroled on November 23rd.  In his blog post, Berman comments that this series of events reinforces his view that states and the federal government can do a better job sorting and monitory the past offenders that present the greatest risk to public safety.  He also advises that we "should not be too quick to lay blame principally on Huckabee for what seems to have been an understandable clemency call back in 2000."

Human Trafficking in North Carolina:  Robin Sax blogs on Women in Crime Ink writes that "[h]uman trafficking is one of the most hidden crimes," and occurring, with very little recognition, right here in the United States.  She posts on the case of Shaniya Nicole Davis, a five-year-old sold as a sex slave by her mother in Charlotte, N.C.  Sax uses the case to applaud the work of local prosecutors for calling this crime "what it is" - human trafficking.  She believes that while human trafficking may be more difficult to prove, the crime must be recognized for what it is because "the first step toward stopping it is to acknowledge that it exists."

You Never Know Who Will Show Up for Jury Service:  Ashby Jones posts on a curious incident in a Birmingham, Alabama courtroom.