Arkansas Injection Protocol Upheld: Another attack on lethal injection has been rejected post-Baze, this time in Arkansas. Eighth Circuit opinion here. AP story here. (Hat tip: How Appealing.)
Japan Death Penalty Poll: Mainichi Daily News reports, "Some 85.6 percent of Japanese are in favor of the death penalty, results of a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday indicate. The survey further found that only 5.7 percent of the 1,944 respondents think death sentences should be abolished."
An Unexpected Legal Advocate: New York Times writer Adam Liptak reports on a man who made the most of his time in prison by studying law. Shon R. Hopwood committed five robberies in Nebraska in 1997 and 1998 and was sentenced more than a decade in federal prison. There, he studied the law and became a Supreme Court practitioner. In 2002, Hopwood prepared his first petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court for a fellow inmate, John Fellers. The Court agreed to hear the case in December 2003. Seth Waxman, a former U.S. Solicitor General, agreed to take Fellers case in part because "It was probably one of the best cert. petitions I have ever read." Since being released from prison, Hopwood has taken a job with Cockle Printing, a leading printer of Supreme Court briefs.
Law Lagging With Technological Advances: Boston Globe writers Jonathan Saltzman and John R. Ellement report on a loophole found in a Massachusetts law. According to the Massachusetts Supreme Court opinion found here, state law does not bar people from sending lewd computer messages to minors. Matt H. Zubiel was convicted of four counts of attempting to disseminate harmful matter. He had emailed a photograph of himself and sent lewd messages to an undercover officer, who he thought to be a 13 year old girl. On Friday, Zubiel's conviction was overturned. The court's opinion stated, "If the Legislature wishes to include instant messaging or other electronically transmitted text in the definition, it is for the Legislature, not the court, to do so." Governor Deval Patrick plans to introduce a bill to close the loophole next week. Eugene Volokh also posts his thoughts on the decision at Volokh Conspiracy.
Japan Death Penalty Poll: Mainichi Daily News reports, "Some 85.6 percent of Japanese are in favor of the death penalty, results of a Cabinet Office survey released Saturday indicate. The survey further found that only 5.7 percent of the 1,944 respondents think death sentences should be abolished."
An Unexpected Legal Advocate: New York Times writer Adam Liptak reports on a man who made the most of his time in prison by studying law. Shon R. Hopwood committed five robberies in Nebraska in 1997 and 1998 and was sentenced more than a decade in federal prison. There, he studied the law and became a Supreme Court practitioner. In 2002, Hopwood prepared his first petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court for a fellow inmate, John Fellers. The Court agreed to hear the case in December 2003. Seth Waxman, a former U.S. Solicitor General, agreed to take Fellers case in part because "It was probably one of the best cert. petitions I have ever read." Since being released from prison, Hopwood has taken a job with Cockle Printing, a leading printer of Supreme Court briefs.
Law Lagging With Technological Advances: Boston Globe writers Jonathan Saltzman and John R. Ellement report on a loophole found in a Massachusetts law. According to the Massachusetts Supreme Court opinion found here, state law does not bar people from sending lewd computer messages to minors. Matt H. Zubiel was convicted of four counts of attempting to disseminate harmful matter. He had emailed a photograph of himself and sent lewd messages to an undercover officer, who he thought to be a 13 year old girl. On Friday, Zubiel's conviction was overturned. The court's opinion stated, "If the Legislature wishes to include instant messaging or other electronically transmitted text in the definition, it is for the Legislature, not the court, to do so." Governor Deval Patrick plans to introduce a bill to close the loophole next week. Eugene Volokh also posts his thoughts on the decision at Volokh Conspiracy.
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