He's brilliant.

My kind of ballet.

The Connecticut House has just passed  LCO 3121/SB 280, An Act Revising the Penalty for Capital Felonies, with a bi-partisan vote of 86 to 62. The legislation is expected to be signed into law by Governor Dannel P. Malloy. When he does, Connecticut will be the 17th state to have abandoned the death penalty!  This victory in Connecticut demonstrates the growing momentum to end capital punishment in the United States. The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty congratulates its Connecticut Affiliate, the Connecticut Network to Abolish the Death Penalty, and its allies and partners. This has been a long time coming. Thank you to each and every person who played a role in making this happen, no matter how small.

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."   

George Orwell

Be safe, Bradley Manning.

There are moments in America when our freedoms depend on the willingness of a President to act firmly and decisively to sustain our fundamental values. This is one of those moments.

As I write this, the Defense Authorization bill is on its way to President Obama's desk. The bill contains dangerous, sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provisions.

Leading members of Congress have already indicated that they believe that these provisions could be used by this and any future president to indefinitely detain people without charge or trial — even American citizens and others picked up within the borders of the United States.

According to reports, the President's advisors are recommending that he not veto this legislation despite earlier promises to do so. We need to tell the President to listen to the American people.

President Obama must veto indefinite detention. Urge him to uphold the freedoms and values we cherish. (Do not forward: This link will open a page with your information already filled in.)

The ACLU and countless supporters like you worked hard to prevent this indefinite detention provision from making it into the National Defense Authorization Act in the first place. But now that it has, we must do everything in our power to stop it.

If we fail, this great nation will become a place where no one will ever be completely safe. Because once America has flouted basic rights like due process and a fair trial, what's next? We can't let "innocent until proven guilty" become "innocent unless suspected otherwise."

We cannot allow our leaders to cross that dangerous line. The future of American freedom rests in President Obama's hands. Let's make sure he’s holding a veto stamp.

Tell President Obama you’re counting on him to veto indefinite detention and uphold the freedoms and values America was built on.

This moment will decide the course our nation takes for years to come. You and the ACLU have prevailed over far-reaching threats before, but this one is going to take all of us.

Thank you for doing your part.

Laura W. Murphy
Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

I will not listen to the recordings. Even the news report about them in French is unbearable.

For the fourth time, the state of Texas is scheduled to execute death row inmate Hank Skinner for the 1993 murders of his live-in girlfriend and her two sons, potentially quashing his ability to request DNA testing under a new state law.

Gray County District Attorney Lynn Switzer asked a state district judge last month to grant an order setting an execution for Nov. 9, even as Skinner awaits a federal court ruling on whether prosecutors must turn over DNA evidence for testing that he says will prove his innocence. Skinner’s lawyers call the move a pressure tactic that makes it tougher for the court to adequately weigh the matter. Texas Tribune

Another one.