When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have samurai swords.
In the immortal words of Hank Williams, Jr., it’s just a family tradition.
Interesting #1:
Exonerations caused by official misconduct: 84
Well over half of the people exonerated last year were initially convicted because of official misconduct, such as officers threatening witnesses, analysts falsifying tests or officials withholding evidence that would have cleared the defendant.
No-crime exonerations: 66
In just under half of the exonerations last year, defendants were wrongfully convicted in cases in which no crime was committed. This included more than a dozen drug possession cases, 11 child sex abuse cases and nine murder cases.
On a totally unrelated note, the state of Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweeping down the plains and it’s hard to get drugs for lethal injections, has decided to start using nitrogen gas instead. (Subject to judicial approval.) I’ve seen other folks call for this as being a much more painless and humane alternative to lethal injection, but OK seems to be the closest to actually doing this.
(Yes, I know: “You know what else is a painless and humane alternative to lethal injection? Not executing people.” And yes, that seems especially relevant in light of the previous item. One of these days, I will write that essay for you guys on the death penalty and my complicated feelings about it.)
Herman Bell has been granted parole. Mr. Bell, along with Anthony Bottom and Albert Washington (members of the Black Liberation Army), executed NYPD officers Joseph A. Piagentini and Waverly M. Jones on May 21, 1971.
In a statement condemning the decision, Commissioner James P. O’Neill recalled how Mr. Bell and his co-conspirators “shot Officer Piagentini 22 times, including with his own service revolver — as the dying officer pleaded for his own life.”
Mr. Bell has been in prison for 47 years. Mr. Washington is still in prison. Mr. Bottom died in 2000.
Toys ‘R’ no longer us.
Headline:
Claire Foy, Queen on ‘The Crown,’ Was Paid Less Than Her Onscreen Husband
Body:
Mr. [Matt] Smith came to Netflix as an established actor in Britain, most notably as the titular character on the BBC staple “Doctor Who” from 2010 to 2013 — a fact that informed the producers’ decision around salary, they said at the conference.
Aside from a role in 2015 in the Golden Globe-winning BBC mini-series “Wolf Hall,” Ms. Foy, 33, was a relative unknown when she was cast in “The Crown.”
The show’s producers have promised that, from now on, “Nobody gets paid more than the queen.” Oh, by the way: they’re also recasting the show: the queen will now be played by Olivia Colman.
You know, you would think that Sorkin and company would have worked out all the permissions issues before actually trying to stage the play…