It will be a banner year for poppy growers in Afghanistan, largely due to a new kind of seed.

The new poppy seeds allow farmers to almost double the output from each plant, said Helmand's provincial police chief Nabi Jan Malakhail. At harvest, collectors cut the bulb of the plant, allowing the raw opium to ooze out. This resin dries and is collected the following day.

Malakhail said the new seeds grow bulbs that are bigger than usual and can be scored twice within a few days, thus doubling the quantity of raw opium. The plants mature in three to four months, rather than the five months of the previous seed variety, allowing farmers to crop three times a year instead of just twice.

Drug officials blame the Taliban. Farmers blame the Afghan government which doesn't provide irrigation and power, both of which would allow them to grow other crops. [More...]

Hillary Clinton will present her plan for immigration reform today in Las Vegas. She will say a path to citizenship is essential.

Of all the people – including Latino GOP senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida – who have declared that they are running for president, only Hillary Clinton offers a Spanish-language campaign website.

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Facing mounting criticism for helping Indonesia execute Bali Nine duo Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police held a press conference today to discuss the AFP's role in the arrest of the Bali Nine. [More....]

All three judges scored Floyd Mayweather the victor over Manny Pacquaio. Scores: 118-110, 116-112, 116-112.

After the fight:

Was anyone rooting for Mayweather?

Congratulations to Kate and William, the Dutchess and Duke of Cambridge, and a warm welcome to the newborn Princess of Cambridge. [More...]

William Barone and Bridget Anne Kelly have been indicted in the Chris Christie bridge scandal. The Indictment is here and is quite detailed. It does not appear to implicate Chris Christie.

Barone is the former deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Kelly is a former deputy chief of staff to Chris Christie. They were charged in nine counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud by “knowingly converting and intentionally misapplying property of an organization receiving federal benefits”. [More...]

Six officers have been charged in Freddie Gray's death. The van driver was charged with second-degree "depraved heart" murder. The charges against the others include involuntary manslaughter, assault and false imprisonment and misconduct in office.

In a news conference, the state’s attorney in Baltimore, Marilyn J. Mosby, described repeated mistreatment of Mr. Gray. Time and again, she said, officers abused him, arresting him without grounds and violating police procedure by putting him in handcuffs and leg restraints in the van without putting a seatbelt on him.

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Very encouraging first morning from the Bernie Sanders' campaign for president:

Sanders parries Clinton $ Q: "Where are the conflicts of interests when the Koch brothers will be spending $900 million in this campaign?"

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) April 30, 2015

No nonsense for Bernie. What will he run on? The issues:

@OKnox I think he said it's fair game to criticize policy/highlight differences but won't launch personal attacks.

— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner) April 30, 2015

Like foreign policy, trade, Wall Street, etc.

Sanders will run on the actual issues that matter to "everyday" people, to coin a phrase.

And that's why it's great he is in the race.

R.I.P. Jean Nidetch, the founder of WeightWatchers. She died this week at age 91. I spent a week at a health spa with her in the early 80's. She was very smart and funny and fun to be around. Here's a picture I took of her that week, and one another guest took of her and me. Should I mention again it was 30 years ago? R.I.P. Jean.

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

The Government reached a new low in the Dzhokhar Tsarnaev trial this week, in my opinion. At a hearing outside the presence of the jury, AUSA William Weinreib complained about the security costs and FBI time spent ensuring the safety of five of Tsarnaev's relatives who traveled here from Russia to testify for him. They threatened to the FBI will take them back to Russia if the defense doesn't call them by Friday.

“It’s an enormous expense and distraction for the agency, and that’s just part of the expense that the government has endured,” federal prosecutor William Weinreb said during a closed-door meeting Monday with the defense and Judge George O’Toole, according to transcripts shown on the court's public terminal.

The Sixth Amendment compulsory process clause guarantees defendants the right to have witnesses brought to trial to testify for the defense: [More...]

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in the case involving lethal injection drugs.

Conservative justices accused opponents of capital punishment of disingenuous delaying tactics regarding the drugs used in executions. Liberal justices suggested state officials were shading the facts to rush condemned men to the execution chamber.

The case involves the drug midazolam, which was used in the botched Oklahoma execution of Clayton Lockett. (More here.) Three death row inmates brought the case. One, Charles Warner, was since put to death using midazolam. His last words: [More...]

Hillary Clinton today announced a plan to revamp criminal justice policy and end the focus on mass incarceration ad draconian sentences, policies favored during the Bill Clinton administration.

Clinton unveiled a sweeping set of proposed criminal justice reforms that would dismantle much of what her husband did. .. Whereas Bill looked to lock up offenders and throw away the key, Hillary is seeking to “end mass incarceration.” His focus was on resources for law enforcement; hers is on transparency meant to protect suspects.

Bill promoted zero tolerance, while Hillary is inclined to lend a second chance. “Keeping them behind bars does little to reduce crime, but it does a lot to tear apart families,” she said of children guilty of nonviolent offenses.

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