tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post115175251189597553..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: From around the blogosphereGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1151839017426946422006-07-02T06:16:00.000-05:002006-07-02T06:16:00.000-05:00I've gotta admit, I'm more or less in favor of giv...I've gotta admit, I'm more or less in favor of giving bloggers "leeway." <BR/><BR/>I oppose the death penalty for several reasons, but it's not my primary focus. There's room in the criminal justice reform movement for a lot of different kinds of work, and the non-capital issues Berman references affect a LOT of people. I don't think it hurts anything to say people should focus there, too. Nor is it inaccurate to point out that for all its recent death penalty focus, only two recent USSC cases on the death penalty made big new precedent - on juveniles and the mentally retarded. Otherwise, the Supreme Court keeps making narrow, small-time decisions that don't move the debate forward much. Given the bulging federal prison system and the Blakely/Booker mess (Berman's specialty), I don't think his suggestion for a broader focus is unwarranted,though it's certainly debatable. <BR/><BR/>By contrast, I know quite a few death penalty abolitionists who don't really care about any other criminal justice subject at all. I don't think that's right, either.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-1151783412528455932006-07-01T14:50:00.000-05:002006-07-01T14:50:00.000-05:00Berman is given too much leeway - his sophistic mu...Berman is given too much leeway - his sophistic musings on why - in effect - it is ok to look the other way on problems with the death penalty should be an alarm bell for those in the academic community who are all to prone to defer to peer popularity. Berman is a fad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com