Donald Beardslee was executed in California last night, following Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's denial of clemency.

In the nearly quarter-century that he waited in San Mateo County Jail and on San Quentin's death row, Beardslee is reported to have become a model prisoner. According to testimony read at Friday's clemency hearing, he even assisted corrections officials on prison security.

Former San Quentin Warden Daniel Vasquez described Beardslee as a rare inmate with no discipline record. "Killing him would be a shame," Vasquez said.

But Schwarzenegger was not swayed by the good behavior argument. "I expect no less," he said.

Only in America. Remember the videotaped beating of the teenager at a gas station outside of LA during the summer of 2002? It almost caused riots, and dominated the news for days. The cop who slammed the kid into the patrol car was charged with assault. He was tried twice and both times the jury deadlocked.

The cop, Jeremy Morse, and his partner sued the city for discrimination saying they had been unfairly "trapped in race situations."

A civil jury has returned a verdict in their favor to the tune of $1.6 million. (Update: This AP report puts the verdict at $2.4 million)

At the time, LA Police Chief Bill Bratton said the officers did not follow departmental policy.

Even the police chief was shocked by the new verdict: Englewood Police Chief Ronald Banks said, "I was shocked at not only the verdict but the size of the awards. It was somewhat ridiculous." The Mayor described the verdict as "inflated and inappropriate," and said the city would decide whether to appeal.

Where is Ahmed Abu 'Ali, a 23 year old American citizen, and why hasn't he called home since November? Amnesty International alleges the U.S. was complicit in his capture by the Saudis, and that he has been tortured, possibly by F.B.I. agents, while in Saudi custoday:

Amnesty International is calling on US and Saudi Arabian authorities to ensure the safety of a US national held in Saudi Arabia who has allegedly been tortured by US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents.

The man, Ahmed Abu 'Ali, aged 23, a US national, is believed to be held in secret detention at al-Ha’ir prison in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh. He has had no access to lawyers and his telephone calls to relatives in the USA ended abruptly in November.

Now that Governor Arnold has denied clemency to Donald Beardslee, it appears certain the execution will occur on schedule. Here are the protest sites around the state, if you want to join in:

Tuesday, January 18th

San Quentin State Prison
RALLY BEGINS AT 8:00PM
EAST GATE OF SAN QUENTIN
You can park on Francisco Blvd. E. but expect to walk 1-1.5 Miles to
get to the East Gate of San Quentin.
Contact: stefanie@deathpenalty.org or 415-243-0143

Los Angeles
RALLY AT 7:00 P.M.
WESTWOOD FEDERAL BUILDING
11000 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (Corner of Veteran)
MARCH AT 8:30 P.M. to ST. ALBANS CHURCH for a VIGIL (580 Hilgard
Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024)
Contact: rohdevictr@aol.com

An Iraqi-American has pleaded guilty in the Top oil for food scandal.

According to documents filed in the U.S. District Court in New York, Vincent agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy, violating economic sanctions, acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and income tax violations. Vincent, who surrendered to the FBI on Tuesday morning in New York, faces a maximum of 28 years in prison. He also agreed to cooperate with the ongoing investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into corruption in the oil-for-food program.

This is the first person to be charged, but not the last. As a recap, the oil for food program, in operation from 1996 to 2003, allowed Iraq

... to sell oil to buy civilian goods to ease the impact of U.N. sanctions on ordinary Iraqis.

Here's what went wrong:

by TChris

The South Bend Tribune today called upon Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels to do two things. First, follow the advice of former Gov. Joe Kernan to "examine whether the sentencing system is fair in Indiana death penalty cases." Second, until that review has been completed, impose a moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty.

Kernan granted clemency to two individuals who had been sentenced to death -- "the only two times in the 48 years since the death penalty was reinstated that an Indiana governor has stepped in to spare the lives of condemned prisoners."

That fact may say something about Kernan's willingness to take the chance of being labeled soft on crime. More than that, it speaks to his willingness to take a new, objective look at the clemency petitions before him. What he found ought to shake anyone's confidence in Indiana's application of capital penalties.

In Kernan's words, "I now have encountered two cases where doubt about an offender's personal responsibility and the quality of the legal process leading to the capital sentence has led me to grant clemency. These instances should cause us to take a hard look at how Indiana administers and reviews capital sentences."

As the Tribune points out, even the strongest supporters of the death penalty should not accept a flawed system for dispensing the ultimate penalty.

Update: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denies clemency. According to the New York Times,

Mr. Schwarzenegger agreed that Mr. Beardslee "suffers from a mental impairment" but said he was not "disconnected from the events of that fateful night."

California is set to have its first execution in three years at 12:01 am Wednesday morning. It's a controversial execution because prisoner Donald Beardslee allegedly is severely brain-damaged from childhood accidents and at the time of his trial in the 80's, there was no brain imaging technology to demonstrate this to the jury.

A clemency request to change the death sentence into one of life without possibility of parole is pending before Gov. Arnold. I hope he does the right thing and commutes the sentence, but speculation is that he will not because Beardslee does not claim to be innocent. The Supreme Court is expected to take its final action today.

The 9th circuit has denied Beardslee's claim that California's lethal injection method violates his first amendment right to free speech because it prevents him from screaming in pain.

The San Francisco Chronicle opposes the execution. So does the Los Angeles Times. His lawyers are arguing:

Laurence argued that Beardslee's life should be spared because jurors who considered his case did not have access to scientific evidence about the effects of brain damage that Beardslee suffered as a child and young man. A former juror, Robert Martinez, has said he might not have agreed to the death penalty if he had had more information about Beardslee's purported brain damage. Laurence also presented testimony that Beardslee has been a model prisoner for 21 years on San Quentin's death row.

The U.S. is about to extradite a British man for a 20 year old drug offense. Giles Carlyle-Clarke, a British aristocrat, says he is part of a secret deal between the U.S. and Britain in which he is being sacrficed in exchange for the release of the British prisoners at Guantanamo.

Carlyle-Clarke, 47, a furniture importer and former racing yachtsman, will present a 2,000-name petition to the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, this week, to protest against his deportation to Alabama. If convicted he could face 25 years....

Carlyle-Clarke, whose family has owned the ancient Winterborne Clenston estate in Dorset since 1066, told The Observer: 'I am sole parent to an eight-year-old child I have brought up from birth. My over-riding concern is the welfare of Max. There has never been another figure in his life. He has no one else and would be effectively orphaned by my extradition.'

Tragically, a family was murdered in New Jersey last week. The father of the family, Hossam Armanious, was a "Coptic Christian" who had argued with Muslims in an internet chat room. The Coptic Christian community in New Jersey believes the murder was a hate crime. Authorities say it's only one theory under investigation.

Already, conservative christian commentators are spreading filth. With headlines like Jihad in New Jersey, they want to know why this family's murder isn't receiving the attention of the Scott Peterson or Kobe Bryant case. Read the column, it's sick and a reminder of how many hatemongers are out there and how destructive they can be.

One of Atrios' readers has emailed him the transcript of what Justice Clarence Thomas said at a swearing in ceremony in Alabama. (Background to controversy here.)

PARKER: Just moments before I placed my hand on the Holy Scripture, Justice Thomas soberly addressed me and those in attendance. He admonished us to remember that the worth of a justice should be evaluated by one thing, and by one thing alone: whether or not he is faithful to uphold his oath _ an oath which as Justice Thomas pointed out is not to the people; it's not to the state; it's not even to the Constitution, which is one to be supported, but is an oath which is to God Himself.

Atrios lets Thomas off the hook... technically.

Via Mark Godsey at Crim Prof Blog: The Supreme Court will hear oral argument today in two cases, including one which will determine whether a death penalty jury must be advised that if it rejects death, the defendant will receive life without parole.

Rompilla v. Beard, 04-5462, questions presented: (1) Does Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994) require a life-without-parole jury instruction where the only alternative to a death sentence under state law is life without the possibility of parole? (2) Has a defendant received unconsitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel at a capital sentencing hearing where counsel does not review the defendant's prior conviction record which would provide mitigating evidence regarding the defendant's traumatic childhood and mental health impairments? More details here.

Maryland and New York are the only two states that require ballistic fingerprinting on handguns. A Maryland state police report recomemends repealing the law:

A law requiring Maryland State Police to collect ballistics information from each handgun sold in the state has not aided a single criminal investigation and should be repealed, a state police report has concluded.

About $2.5 million has been spent on the program so far. Col. Thomas E. Hutchins, the state police superintendent, said he would prefer spending the money on proven crime-fighting techniques.