Victim Notification Law Signed by Idaho Governor: KMVT News (ID) reports Idaho Governor C.L. "Butch" Otter signed into law House Bill 595, which requires those convicted of felonies and misdemeanors to pay $10 to fund VINE (Victim Information Notification Everyday), which notifies victims of their offender's incarceration and court status. Once a victim or other interested person registers in the VINE system, they will be automatically notified when the offender they registered against is released from custody or is scheduled to appear in court by telephone or email. VINE has been managed in the state for almost three years from grants, which expire in 2012. The new law creates sustainable funding for the program. 

3 Executions in Japan, First Since 2010: Minoru Matsutani of the Japan Times reports three inmates were hanged in Japan Thursday, the country's first executions since July 2010. Yasutoshi Matsuda, 44, was convicted of robbing and killing two women in 2001. Tomoyuki Furusawa, 46, was convicted of murdering his 12-year-old stepson and his wife's parents in 2002. Yasuaki Uwabe, 48, was convicted of running over seven people with a car, killing two, and slashing seven other people with a knife, killing three, in 1999. "The right to punish criminals rests on Japanese nationals, and a government poll shows the majority of Japanese support the death sentence," Justice Minister Toshio Ogawa said at a news conference.