Illinois Primary: "Like it or not, the establishment won last night," reports WaPo political analyst Chris "The Fix" Cillizza. He notes that incumbent Gov. Quinn nearly blew the advantage of incumbency when he "committed a massive unforced error -- acknowledging the accidental release of hundreds of prisoners from the state's jails -- that handed Hynes momentum he was struggling to find elsewhere." Although Quinn squeaked it out, the fact that an incumbent came that close to losing a primary should send a message.
In Virginia, now that Tim Kaine is former Gov., the irrational "triggerman" law may finally be repealed, reports Bill Sizemore in the Virginia Pilot. That is the law that says a conspiracy leader who orders a "hit" cannot get the death penalty, with a few, narrow exceptions, while the follower who does the dirty work can. In Ohio's Getsy case, a Sixth Circuit panel held that such a disparity in sentence was so gross as to be unconstitutional. That ruling was correctly overturned en banc, but the result is still one to be avoided when possible, certainly not one to be enshrined in law.
In Maryland, this WaPo blog post notes the curious incident of Gov. O'Malley's silence on the death penalty in his State of the State address. "The legislature compromised last year on this issue, too, passing a bill that restricts death penalty cases to those with higher standards of evidence.... The issue of the death penalty will still be relevant this session. Some lawmakers are attempting to loosen the standards of evidence approved last year, and a panel of legislators is reviewing rules drafted by O'Malley's administration that would end an effective moratorium on capital punishment that began with a December 2006 court ruling."
Kiddie Porn: John Schwartz in the NYT has this interesting article on making the buyers of child pornography pay restitution to a little girl, now grown, who was victimized to make the video.
In Virginia, now that Tim Kaine is former Gov., the irrational "triggerman" law may finally be repealed, reports Bill Sizemore in the Virginia Pilot. That is the law that says a conspiracy leader who orders a "hit" cannot get the death penalty, with a few, narrow exceptions, while the follower who does the dirty work can. In Ohio's Getsy case, a Sixth Circuit panel held that such a disparity in sentence was so gross as to be unconstitutional. That ruling was correctly overturned en banc, but the result is still one to be avoided when possible, certainly not one to be enshrined in law.
In Maryland, this WaPo blog post notes the curious incident of Gov. O'Malley's silence on the death penalty in his State of the State address. "The legislature compromised last year on this issue, too, passing a bill that restricts death penalty cases to those with higher standards of evidence.... The issue of the death penalty will still be relevant this session. Some lawmakers are attempting to loosen the standards of evidence approved last year, and a panel of legislators is reviewing rules drafted by O'Malley's administration that would end an effective moratorium on capital punishment that began with a December 2006 court ruling."
Kiddie Porn: John Schwartz in the NYT has this interesting article on making the buyers of child pornography pay restitution to a little girl, now grown, who was victimized to make the video.
RE: Virginia. IIRC, Virginia limited its capital punishment to "triggermen" (with some exceptions) in response to Supreme Court caselaw. If that's the case, Virginia's responsibility "illogical" system is somewhat mitigated. Virginia has had a very effective capital punishment system.