Supreme Court Trend: Hiring the Similarly Minded: New York Times writer Adam Liptak reports that according to a new study, former Supreme Court clerks have started taking jobs that reflect the ideologies of the Justices they clerked for.  The new study collected data from 1882 through 2006, and was published in last months issue of Vanderbilt Law Review.  It was in the autumn issue of The Green Bag.  "It's cause for concern mainly because it's a further piece of evidence of the polarization of the court," said William E. Nelson, New York University law professor and one of the authors of the study.  The study found that this current trend started during the Clinton administration.  The findings support, as the study puts it, "a superlegislature responding to ideological argument rather than a legal institution responding to concerns grounded in the rule of law." 

Will Kansas Eliminate the Death Penalty? Wichita Eagle writer Ron Sylvester reports that next year, due to a recent decline in death sentencing, Kansas will consider whether to abolish the death penalty.  A report released by the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment, states that 106 death sentences were handed down in 2009, compared to 111 in 2008.  On January 19, 2010, a four-day hearing is scheduled to discuss a new bill that would eliminate the death penalty.  Kansas is not the only state to consider eliminating the death penalty, 11 others have considered abolishing death penalty this year.  Attorney General Steve Six says it's not fair to put a price on these crimes.  He also states that the cost will be cut in the future because decided case law will make the trials more efficient.  Currently, Kansas has 10 people of death row, they have not executed anyone since 1965. 

Budget Reports Promote Prison Reform: Associated Press writer Jeff Carlton reports that the United States may soon see a drop in its prison population.  Since the early 1970s, states have adopted tough on crime policies that has put more people in prison and kept them there longer.  The economic crisis has caused states to rethink their policies; changing a long steady trend.  According to figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 739,000 prisoners were admitted to state and federal facilities last year, about 3,500 more than were released.  This 0.8 percent growth in the prison population is smallest increase this decade.  But Florida may be an exception to the trend.  Florida has enacted a law requiring all convicts to serve a high percentage of their sentence.