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.

Fifteen states do not give the option for the death penalty to their prosecutors. A sixteenth, Illinois, is about to join them.

There is always fascinating discussion to be had on this subject, and I thought I would throw open the floor for just that.

  A new report from the Death Penalty Information Center takes a look at an often-neglected piece of the debate over capital punishment – the financial cost.   The death penalty in the U.S. is an enormously expensive and wasteful program with no clear benefits. All of the studies on the cost of capital punishment [...]

In America, capital punishment is a national gang initiation rite. Typically, an aspiring politician is accepted into our Crips-and-Bloods, two-party political arena only after declaring for the death penalty.