Jury-Delivered Death Sentences on the Decline

Despite the best efforts of John Ashcroft, juries continue to issue fewer death penalty sentences:

For the fourth straight year, the number of death sentences handed out by the nation’s juries has declined — a fact that opponents and reformers say indicates increasing public awareness of problems with the American system of capital punishment.
In its year-end report, the Death Penalty Information Center projects approximately 138 death sentences for 2003, 20 below last year and less than half the number recorded annually during much of the 1990s.

Many attribute the decline to renewed scrutiny of the system:

“I think there’s no doubt whatsoever that everyone is taking a hard second look,” said Eric Freedman, a law professor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., who has been active in the movement for capital punishment reform. “Even those people who support the idea of the death penalty are convinced now that our existing system is in need of significant reforms if it is to survive.”

Let’s hope this re-examination continues.
Via TalkLeft.

Weather Closings

The snow flurries have been flying fast and furious today in the Tennessee Valley. And although none of it has accumulated on nearby roads thus far, it has prompted a series of weather-related closings.
The following will be closed/canceled until conditions improve:

Joe Horn’s Sportsmanship Symposium
“Successful Strategies for Government Contract Bidding” by Halliburton Government Affairs Executive Charles Dominy
Bill O’Reilly Center for First Amendment Studies
Saddam Hussein’s Rat Hole Remodeling Workshop
Paris Hilton’s Cattle Husbandry Seminar
“Doctor Shopping for Dummies” by Rush Limbaugh
John Kerry Credit Counseling Center

Stay tuned for more weather-related announcements. . . .

Whistleblower Tips

Representative Henry Waxman recently announced (pdf file) the unveiling of Internet tip lines for Iraq contracting abuses, intelligence failures, and other issues. Tip line contact information is currently available here.
I’d like to note that Internet whistleblowers are similarly welcome here. Anyone wanting to go public with a bona fide account of waste, mismanagement, or corruption is encouraged to do so here with a Resonance exclusive story. Simply e-mail me at weblog -at- brianarner -dot- com.

Unauthorized Tracking

Uh oh:

In a surprise setback for the recording industry, a U.S. appeals court said Friday its methods for tracking down those who copy its music over the Internet are not authorized by law.
. . .
[I]n a strongly worded ruling, the appeals court sided with Verizon, saying a 1998 copyright law does not give copyright holders the ability to subpoena customer names from Internet providers without filing a formal lawsuit.

The RIAA is such a sympathetic plaintiff this almost makes one feel for them. Ha.

Web Scrubbing

More indications that the Bush administration is monkeying around with government web sites:

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, administration Web sites have been scrubbed for anything vaguely sensitive, and passwords are now required to access even much unclassified information. Though it is not clear whether the White House is directing the changes, several agencies have been following a similar pattern. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USAID have removed or revised fact sheets on condoms, excising information about their effectiveness in disease prevention, and promoting abstinence instead. The National Cancer Institute, meanwhile, scrapped claims on its Web site that there was no association between abortion and breast cancer. And the Justice Department recently redacted criticism of the department in a consultant’s report that had been posted on its Web site.

Benign site management or intentional revisionism?
I’m thinking the latter.

Founding Father Soul Mate

Who knows how accurate this comparison is, but according to this test, I’m like:

John Adams
You are right more often than not, but can be irritating enough about it that people will tune you out even when they shouldn’t. You enter a room more concerned that everyone acknowledge that you’re right than that everyone like you. You tend to make few friends, but those you do make are closer than family.

I don’t view myself quite that way, and I may have a strong Hamiltonian side. But that’s how the results pan out.
Via Voluntarily in China.