The law and the jungle

I just got a voice mail from Kathy Bayes of the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, who had just received an e-mail from someone in the state public defender's office, to the effect that: Judge Allen Sharp of the Northern Indiana District Court has reversed the death penalty of Joseph Corcoran, charged with killing his brother, his sister's fiance and two of his brother's friends in Fort Wayne in 1997.

Jesus Arrieta wants a translator, and he thinks we should pay for it. The Indiana Supreme Court is thinking about it:

You think the war in Iraq has been dragging on too long? How about the one that's been going on for 40 years with costs recently running about $40 billion a year?

But after all these battles and all these billions, what's been accomplished?

We all believe individuals should be responsible for their own actions. Many of us deplore, to one degree or another, the trend today toward assigning blame to others -- the bartender who sells the drink, the firm that distributes the firearm, the company that manufactures the cigarettes that people make themselves sick with, driving up health costs -- in ways that dilute that individual responsibility. But what about people who know -- or should know -- they are contributing to the harm caused by others but go ahead and do it anyway?

Cool idea from Ohio:

CINCINNATI - Customers at some suburban pizza parlors are getting something extra with their pepperoni and mushrooms — wanted posters for parents accused of failing to pay child support.

The idea came to Cynthia Brown, executive director of the Butler County Child Enforcement Agency, while she was ordering pizza.

The Chicago Tribune, reversing its long-held opinion, has come out against the death penalty:

I may have to watch the Phil Spector trial; it's likely to be the best thing on TV for a while:

A "state as moral arbiter" update: 

Mugger to mugging victim: It's YOUR fault.

Wasting no time in pointing up the tensions between Washington and Mexico City, Mr. Calderón also urged Mr. Bush to move more aggressively to create a temporary-worker program. Such a program would decriminalize the millions of Mexicans and others who enter the United States illegally to fill low-paying jobs.

If they ever have a contest for the stupidest criminal in America, the winner will probably be one of these guys:

FISHERS, Ind. -- An Indianapolis man was arrested last week on suspicion of soliciting sex from someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl on the Internet.