Blogging has arrived at death row. Meet Vernon is the first weblog written by a death row inmate.

Here's how it works, according to the sites creator, Virginia Simmons:

Vernon Lee Evans, is the next person to be executed on Maryland’s death row. You can write Vernon a question using the link at the top of the screen or by writing an email directly to MeetVernon@GMail.com . I will print out the emails and mail them to Vernon who is currently in a maximum security cell in Baltimore, Maryland. Vernon will mail me back his responses and I’ll post them here.

Vernon was supposed to be executed this month but very recently got a stay of execution. You can read about his case here, and sign a petition to save his life. Read Vernon's description of a typical day on death row.

Meet Vernon even has a blogroll, and TalkLeft is proud to be included on it. This is an experiment, but wouldn't it be great to see every death row inmate with a blog?

Here's a list of currently scheduled executions for the remainder of 2005. Also check out these excellent blogs: Abolish the Death Penalty by David Elliott of NCADP and the Lonely Abolitionist.

Update: More discussion about why death row inmates should have blogs.

by TChris

One of the more obnoxious devices enshrined in the Patriot Act is its expansion of authority to conduct "sneak-and-peek" searches. A law enforcement agent conducting a typical "sneak-and-peek" enters a dwelling surreptitiously, snoops around, and leaves without ever notifying the resident that a search has occurred. The Justice Department wants you to believe that it rarely uses the powers conveyed by the Patriot Act, including sneak-and-peeks, but that just isn't true.

Disclosure of a 75 percent increase in secret wiretaps and ”sneak and peek” searches since 2000 is likely to provide ammunition for civil liberties groups determined to modify the USA Patriot Act when Congress begins two months of debate on the law Tuesday.

by TChris

Amnesty International USA recently updated its "facts and figures on the death penalty." A noteworthy fact:

In 2004, 97 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, Viet Nam and the USA.

What wonderful company we keep.

by TChris

Those who demonize individuals who cross the border in search of jobs to feed their families tend to place no blame on the employers who provide those jobs. In addition, they tend to disregard the benefits to the U.S. economy that result from that employment, including contributions to the social security system that the president claims is in a state of crisis.

As the debate over Social Security heats up, the estimated seven million or so illegal immigrant workers in the United States are now providing the system with a subsidy of as much as $7 billion a year.

Those contributions comprised about 10 percent of last year's surplus. The workers aren't eligible to receive benefits, so they contribute without expecting or receiving a corresponding benefit. The loss of those financial contributions would be significant, and the Social Security Administration counts on those continuing contributions when it projects the solvency of the Social Security Trust Fund.

Hearings begin today over the renewal of various Patriot Act provisions. Rather than listening to how Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tries to defend making only small changes to the Act, I suggest you focus on the bi-partisan SAFE Act (Safety and Freedom Enhancement Act)which will be introduced today by Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho.) Sen. Russ Feingold is among the co-sponsors. The ACLU reports:

The Craig-Durbin bill would address some of the most controversial Patriot Act powers, including section 213, which permits the use of "sneak and peek" delayed-notification search warrants; section 215, which gives law enforcement agents access to a wide array of personal records, including library, medical and educational records; and section 802, which redefines "domestic terrorism" so broadly that it could be used against direct action advocacy groups and individuals.

It's not necessary for there to be a body in order to convict someone of murder, but maybe one should be required. Even if the suspect confesses. For those who don't believe that someone would confess to a murder they didn't commit, read on. I bet this isn't the only case:

A Chinese man jailed and badly beaten for his wife's murder has been freed after she turned up not only alive but with another husband, domestic media said on Monday, revealing a brutal arbitrariness to China's legal system.

She Xianglin's wife, Zhang Zaiyu, disappeared after a domestic dispute in 1994 and when a woman's body was found in a local reservoir, She was detained on suspicion of killing his wife, the China Daily said.

It's official, the Current Network, headed up by Al Gore, will launch in August. It's aiming for the 18 to 34 market, and will try to be more like MTV than Fox News or MSNBC. It will not be a liberal network:

"We have no intention of being a Democratic channel, a liberal channel, or a TV version of Air America, that's not what we're all about," he said, referring to the liberal radio network.

From today's news conference:

This afternoon on the Senate floor, Senator John Cornyn gave an astounding account of the recent spate of violence against judges, suggesting that the crimes could be attributed to the fact that judges are "unaccountable" to the public. (Video here. )

SENATOR JOHN CORNYN: "I don't know if there is a cause-and-effect connection but we have seen some recent episodes of courthouse violence in this country. Certainly nothing new, but we seem to have run through a spate of courthouse violence recently that's been on the news and I wonder whether there may be some connection between the perception in some quarters on some occasions where judges are making political decisions yet are unaccountable to the public, that it builds up and builds up and builds up to the point where some people engage in - engage in violence." [Senate Floor, 4/4/05]

by TChris

It didn't take long for the vigilante group known as the Minuteman Project (discussed in this TalkLeft post) to make unnecessary work for the Border Patrol.

Even though volunteers for the Minuteman Project were only beginning their regular, monthlong patrols Monday, they have unwittingly set off sensors during the past few days, forcing agents to respond to what essentially is a false alarm, said Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jose Maheda. "Every sensor has to be addressed," Maheda said. "It's taken away from our normal operations."

An eight part documentary on the murder trial of novelist Michael Peterson begins tonight on the Sundance Channel.

“The Staircase” is a documentary that follows the case of novelist Michael Peterson who was charged in 2001 of murdering his wife. The documentary originally aired on Britain’s BBC network and shows the defense strategies of Peterson’s team of lawyers, the head of which is David Rudolf. Peterson claims that his wife fell down a flight of stairs in their home in Durham, NC.

The film is airing in the US on the Sundance Channel in eight parts starting tonight with the first two parts at 9 pm, Eastern and Pacific times; 8 pm, Central time.

The entire trial was televised live on Court TV, so many may be familiar with it. David Rudolf is a terrific lawyer and I'm told the documentary is very well done.

There's been a second attack by suicide bombers at Abu Ghraib prison. Reportedly, four civilians were injured.

In related news, taking reality tv to new heights or lows, depending on your viewpoint, an Iraqi television station is broadcasting confessions of alleged terrorists obtained during interrogations.

Campus protesters have scored a big victory in New York.

A planned CIA recruiting event at New York University (NYU) was canceled after the Campus Antiwar Network (CAN) called a protest demanding the CIA abandon its recruiting program at NYU. Twenty hours before the recruiting event was scheduled to begin, its organizers sent an e-mail to all those who had registered, headlined, "The CIA Speaker Event scheduled for Thursday, March 31 @6PM has been CANCELED due to the possibility of a protest by the Campus Antiwar Network."