Sotomayor Writes First Capital Punishment Opinion: Washington Post Staff Writer Robert Barnes reports on Wednesday's Supreme Court decision to uphold the death penalty for an Alabama inmate. The 7 to 2 ruling was notable because it was written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and is her first full opinion on capital punishment since she joined the court. Sotomayor's extensive record as a judge is scant on capital punishment, but after this opinion hopefully we can look forward to Sotomayor taking a larger role in capital cases before the high court.
Deadline Passes for Closing Gitmo: Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett reports on the closing of Guantanamo Bay as the deadline to close the detention facility arrives tomorrow. There is still more than a year left of work to do. Unless Obama decides to change course, Gitmo's closing still depends on support in Congress to pay for a super-secure prison in Illinois for some of the detainees. Obama must also requisition millions in order to put some suspects, including Ghailani, on trial in federal courts. The high-security military prison, the administration argues, actually weakens national security because it serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists and undermines the United States' moral authority in combatting such killers. Critics of the closure plan say bringing detainees to the U.S. to face trial or shipping them overseas only increases the risk of attacks. Others are urging the president to try new tactics, such as creating a new type of court proceeding combining civillian trials and military commissions.
Deadline Passes for Closing Gitmo: Associated Press writer Devlin Barrett reports on the closing of Guantanamo Bay as the deadline to close the detention facility arrives tomorrow. There is still more than a year left of work to do. Unless Obama decides to change course, Gitmo's closing still depends on support in Congress to pay for a super-secure prison in Illinois for some of the detainees. Obama must also requisition millions in order to put some suspects, including Ghailani, on trial in federal courts. The high-security military prison, the administration argues, actually weakens national security because it serves as a recruiting tool for terrorists and undermines the United States' moral authority in combatting such killers. Critics of the closure plan say bringing detainees to the U.S. to face trial or shipping them overseas only increases the risk of attacks. Others are urging the president to try new tactics, such as creating a new type of court proceeding combining civillian trials and military commissions.
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