Video: Senators Praise Webb on Criminal Justice Bill

Great work by Sen. Webb, who is working to comprehensively review and overhaul America's broken criminal "justice" system. According to Webb's office, "With the backing of thirty-four Senators and dozens of organizations representing a broad spectrum of the criminal justice community, Senator Webbs National Criminal Justice Commission Act next goes to the Senate floor for a full vote." I certainly hope the Senate passes this important legislation.

Tim Kaine: Restore Ex-Felons' Voting Rights NOW!

The Virginia Organizing Project is making a huge push for Kaine to sign an executive order prior to leaving office to restore the voting rights for the 300,000 Virginians waiting on restoration and end Virginia's backwards policy (only one other state, Kentucky, has this restriction).

The bottom line is this: former felons - people who have served their sentences and paid their debts to society - should have their voting rights automatically restored when they complete their sentence and their probation. Governor Kaine can establish this policy entirely on his own, with no permission required from the General Assembly. So what in god's name is he waiting for? I strongly urge - actually, demand - that Governor Kaine sign an Executive Order immediately to correct this gross injustice — before he leaves office. I mean, hell, if he's got time for DNC luncheons in Little Rock, he certainly should make time to deal with this!

Gov. Kaine Denies John Allen Muhammad Clemency

And so John Allen Muhammad will be executed for the sniper shootings that terrorized the Washington, DC area in October 2002.

"I find no compelling reason to set aside the sentence that was recommended by the jury and then imposed and affirmed by the courts," Kaine, who is known for carefully considering death penalty cases, said in a statement. "Accordingly, I decline to intervene."

With that, Muhammad will be executed at 9 pm at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Virginia. Now, I'm not generally a big fan of the death penalty, but I really am having a difficult time coming up with a reason to be against it in this case. There's no doubt John Allen Muhammad committed the crimes. There's no doubt that those crimes were particularly heinous. There are no other mitigating factors that I'm aware of (although Justices Ginsburg, Stevens, and Sotomayor pointed to "the perversity of executing inmates before their appeals process have been fully concluded").

All of which leaves no strong argument against capital punishment in this case, except for the usual ones that it's not a deterrent, that the state shouldn't be in the business of taking peoples' lives, that it's just as effective (and usually no more expensive) to lock up the criminal for life, etc. I just hope this brings some "closure" (actually, I can't stand that word; too simplistic and probably not true in most situations) or at least emotional relief of some sort to the families of the victims.