It's a great day for justice. In addition to the al-Marri decision (blogged here), we learn that Genarlow Wilson, who TalkLeft last wrote about here, has been ordered released from his 10 year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a girl who was only two years younger. If Georgia prosecutors had any humanity, they wouldn't appeal the decision, but an appeal seems likely, and it may keep Wilson behind bars pending the outcome.

The Connecticut Assembly and Senate passed a bill that permits people suffering from certain health conditions to grow their own marijuana. It isn't clear whether Gov. Rell will sign it.

"In the past, she has been sympathetic to helping the terminally ill and those with debilitating symptoms find relief," [spokesman Rich] Harris said, "but she would frankly prefer to see the policy change at the federal level since it is a chronic problem for any state that takes up the issue."

We'd all prefer to see the federal government do the right thing, but state action is the best way to make that happen. When enough states have legalized medical marijuana, federal legislators will get the message. Sometimes it takes a personal tragedy to bring them around.

State Representative Marie Lopez Kirkley-Bey, a Democrat from Hartford who is deputy speaker, said she had been “vehemently opposed” to the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes and voted against such bills in the past because she feared a negative impact on children. But she changed her mind when two of her cousins died of cancer last year.

“When I saw the pain and suffering they endured while trying to maintain their dignity and composure, the bill came to my mind,” Ms. Kirkley-Bey said. “There was a feeling that before, I didn’t do the right thing.”

It's never too late to do the right thing. Gov. Rell should sign the bill.

In the U.S., tragic crimes too often spawn criminal laws that are based on headline potential rather than sound policy. In the wake of a murder committed by a pedophile in Britain, a British proposal ("Sarah's Law") to emulate the American approach to sex offender registration has been rejected on the sensible ground that open registries cause more harm than they prevent.

The NSPCC, a leading children's charity, welcomed the development saying "open access" could force convicted paedophiles underground and place youngsters at greater risk of assault.

As TalkLeft argued here, it is ridiculous for the State of Georgia to make Genarlow Wilson serve a minimum of 10 years because, at age 17, he engaged in a consensual act of oral sex with a 15 year old girl. Public outrage caused the Georgia legislature to change the law, but Georgia's courts have refused to apply the change retroactively to save Wilson from an unfair sentence.

Wilson is taking another shot at persuading a court to reduce his sentence by arguing in a habeas petition that 10 years is, under the circumstances, cruel and unusual. The constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual sentences is rarely held to be violated by a sentence that falls within a statutory maximum, but this is an unusual case.

[T]he General Assembly reduced the maximum sentence in such cases from 10 years with no chance of parole to 12 months or less in jail, a highly unusual step in an era when sentences are commonly lengthened, not reduced dramatically.

That almost unprecedented act of contrition by lawmakers ought to persuade the judge that Genarlow Wilson's sentence violates the standards set by the people of Georgia, which the law holds is a critical test of whether a punishment is cruel and unusual.

Georgia resident and former president Jimmy Carter asked Georgia's attorney general to recognize the injustice of Wilson's sentence, but the plea was futile.

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As TalkLeft noted here, embattled Eastern District of Arkansas U.S. Attorney Tim Griffin resigned on Friday, reportedly to work for the Fred Thompson campaign, according to ArkansasBlog and CNN.

Griffin was one of those installed in the eight purged U.S. Attorney slots, reported everywhere. His predecessor was dumped December 21st, and Griffin was installed.

He refused to subject himself to Senate confirmation hearings, knowing he would be crucified for participating in Karl Rove's machinations to steal the Florida elections for Bush by the purge of African-American voters in Florida.

The Democrats in Arkansas were outraged.  He was toast.

Meet Jennifer in San Francisco. She's a pot dealer.

Jennifer, who is white, and who dresses tidily and arranges flowers for a popular art gallery, talks about the [Latino] dealers with clear discomfort. Not because they're troublesome or violent. It's more that she feels guilty. The police never arrest her.

Jennifer enjoys the flower arranging, but mostly it functions as a legitimate income to show the IRS. Really, she's a marijuana dealer.

As a female, Jennifer says, the police aren't looking for her:

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The LA Times has an article today about how the unions in Los Angeles are accepting former gang members who have done prison time.

There's life after gangs. All they need is a chance. Kudos to the unions for providing it.

I haven't been excited about the U.S. Sentencing Commission's long awaited report urging a slight reduction in crack cocaine penalties, because the reduction is just that: slight.

The report was forwarded to Congress today. You can read it here.

From a policy perspective, as the ACLU says, it's a good first step, but that's all it is.

But 2007 marks the fourth time in 20 years that the commission has issued such a report, and Congress has yet to address the problem. Years of medical and legal research have shown no appreciable difference between crack and powder cocaine, and no justification for allowing the vast sentencing gap between them to stand. We urge Congress to put aside politics and act now to fix this discriminatory federal drug sentencing policy."

From the practical standpoint of my clients and everyone else's clients doing double-digit sentences, it only takes a year or two off.

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Too funny, particularly the hokey voice-over. [Via Alternet]

This is kind of funny. A cop took a suspect's marijuana and baked brownies with it. He and his wife ate the brownies and thought they were dying and called 911 to report they overdosed.

The cop later resigned from the force. Some are complaining the cop wasn't charged with a crime.

Yes, it's bad to take a suspect's pot. But I don't think it warrants criminal charges. Disciplinary charges, to be sure, but the cop resigned first. And, in the grand scheme of things, it's better that someone who overdoses on drugs like heroin not to be afraid to seek medical attention. Some things are better confined to the realm of the doctor-patient privilege.

Wal-Mart has managed to do something socially useful, although its motive is suspect. A judge wanted to impose a shaming punishment on Wal-Mart shoplifers, ordering them to spend two Saturday afternoons in front of Wal-Mart with a sign that said, "I am a thief, I stole from Wal-Mart."

Wal-Mart was against this punishment before it was for it.

[Judge] Robertson said he had long tried to get the store to agree to the punishment, but had been turned down. Then, he said, company officials "told me just out of the blue without me inquiring, saying, 'Go ahead and do it, we think it's a great idea.'"

After two men were forced to carry the placards outside a Wal-Mart, the company changed its mind again. A Wal-Mart spokesman says the company had concerns for the safety of the men, although it was more likely concerned about corporate liability if the men were hurt on Wal-Mart property. Or maybe too many people driving by were cheering the "I stole from Wal-Mart" sign.

A new study in New Jersey, home of the original Megan's Law which requires convicted sex offenders to register with authorities, finds no evidence they make children safer and questions whether the laws are worth the enormous cost.

For those who don't know a Megan's law from an Amber Alert or a Laci's or Jessica's law,

The 1994 law is named after Megan Kanka, a suburban Trenton girl who was raped and murdered by a convicted sex offender living across the street. It has been a model for dozens of state laws across the country.

The law requires sex criminals to report their whereabouts to law enforcement authorities, who must maintain a catalog of the offenders and notify residents when a high-risk offender moves nearby. The tracking and notification apparatus in New Jersey costs county and local governments millions of dollars.

As to the study, conducted by the New Jersey Department of Corrections and funded by the National Institute of Justice (the research arm of the Department of Justice),

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