A variety of links to articles/interviews on current topics that may, or may not, be of interest.

Former New Mexico governor and barely-blipping GOP presidential candidate Gary Johnson resurrected the specter of Newt Gingrich’s doobie-dabbling and pot policy on MSNBC this weekend (though Johnson overstated Newt’s nonsense a bit). Here’s Newt’s most recent position, as of 1996, when as Speaker of House he introduced H.R. 4170 (Drug Importer Death Penalty Act of 1996) to the House of Representatives, which sought to “provide a sentence of death for certain importations of significant quantities of controlled substances” including marijuana.

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber, M.D., in an announcement today at the state capital, said he will put a temporary reprieve on executions in the state, including the pending execution of Gary Haugen, convicted of two murders in 1981 and 2003. The governor, in an unexpected addendum to his announcement regarding Haugen, also said he will not sign any death warrants while in office.

In 1994, Justice Harry Blackmun famously announced his opposition to the death penalty: “From this day forward, I no longer shall tinker with the machinery of death.” It cannot be administered fairly, he said, and “the inevitability of factual, legal, and moral error” ensures that some innocent defendants will be killed.

The circus around Troy Davis’ execution tells me that we are continuing to tinker with the machinery of death. We are diminished as a society as a result.

Was it when it was after 10 pm and the Supreme Court still hadn’t issued a decision? Was it when the Supreme Court issued a “temporary reprieve” instead of a stay of execution and left people emotionally on edge outside the prison? Or was it when there was an abrupt flurry of sirens that pulled up and police storm troopers marched over to provide reinforcement for a line of police, which had been standing on guard? Was that when it became apparent Troy Davis was going to be killed Wednesday night?

UPDATE 2: Supreme Court refuses the stay, will not block the execution.

UPDATE: The Supreme Court of the United States has temporarily issued a reprieve while they consider the case. Could be minutes, could be hours, could be seven days.

The Georgia Pardons & Paroles Board is set to execute Troy Davis at 7 pm ET on International Day of Peace. Troy Davis’ attorneys filed a motion for an emergency stay of execution. Lawyers wrote, according to Huffington Post, “No physical evidence has ever conclusively linked Mr. Davis to the murder and significant suspicion rests on the man who implicated Mr. Davis to the police originally.” The Board denied the motion. The defense also wanted a certificate of probable cause to appeal. That was denied too.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied Troy Davis clemency. The five-member board reviewed pleas for clemency yesterday and did not make a decision until this morning. Davis is scheduled for execution tomorrow, September 21. Clemency or the issuance of a stay of execution was Davis’ last available avenue for avoiding lethal injection.

The Supreme Court made the rare decision to step in and order a stay of execution for Duane Edward Buck in Texas, hours before he was to die, because the jury sentencing him to death was told that Buck posed a greater threat to public safety because of his race.

The justices still must determine whether they will review the Buck case, so this stay may not last very long.

Lost in the dust of the national debt this week was a Texas execution. While every execution is an egregious violation of human rights, this was distinguished in it blatant disregard for not only human life but for the rule of law.

A new judge, from outside of Arizona, has been appointed to handle the Federal Criminal case against Jared Loughner, and he will have a substantial issue of jurisdiction on his hands when he first takes the bench on it.