"A Moral and Practical Failure":

Adam Liptak quotes Professor Samuel Gross in today's New York Times in a report on "the American Law Institute, which created the intellectual framework for the modern capital justice system … 50 years ago."

Even the body that created the language which the Supreme Court used to justify the reinstatement of the death penalty in the U. S. now concludes that the system is so badly broken it should be abandoned.

The question now is will this provide Texans with more reason to secede from the union? Surely they must fear their right to have the state murder the disenfranchised within their boundaries in order to enhance their politicians' reputations?


Moral Turpitude:

Following Alabama Congressman Parker Griffith's switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party, his staff resigns, with one member stating, "We cannot in good conscience continue working for him. We do not know what the future holds, but we are taking a leap of faith with the belief we will soon find ourselves in the employment of principled public officials" (See The New York Times' story.)

The question is— "principled public officials" —does such a creature actually exist? Of course, we might also ask whether we really want one.

Griffith's district, by the why, thrives on defense spending.