It's been 130 years since the Supreme Court has heard direct arguments about the method of execution -- back then, it was the firing squad. Today, it'll be on a Kentucky case; Kentucky, like California and 35 other states, uses lethal injection. In December 2006, a California judge found that, the LA Times reports, There was "more than adequate" evidence that the state was violating the U.S. Constitution after hearing testimony that lethal injection......

A body was found yesterday afternoon in the Angeles National Forest, off Highway 2 near Big Pines. The identity of the person has not been revealed. Now you can get all the penis-biting snake action you want on the web: the next "Jackass" sequel is set to premiere on the web through Blockbuster's new online movie service. In New Jersey, the state assembly has voted to outlaw the death penalty, "poising the state to......

Free agent Brevin Knight, formerly with the Charlotte Bobcats, has just signed on with the Clippers. Where can you find the top 10 taco places on the West Side? Don't forget to check out the Sunset Junction Street Fair this upcoming weekend! Avowed pedophile Jack McClellan was arrested twice today on the UCLA campus. A mechanic was stabbed with a screwdriver when he tried confronting two car burglars a few days ago. A tip......

Last month an LA jury agreed that Chester Turner should suffer the death penalty. The 40 year-old Turner had been found guilty of killing ten people including one woman who was 6 1/2 months pregnant. Today Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders agreed with the jury. [Turner] was convicted April 30 of 10 counts of first-degree murder, plus one count of second-degree murder for the death of one victim's fetus. That victim, Regina Washington,......

It's hard to live in Los Angeles and not be a sucker for a good courtroom drama, particularly the televised kind. And chances are, if you’re a Gen Xer, you’re already very familiar with Twelve Angry Men. That’s because the classic 1957 Sidney Lumet film (adapted from the 1954 television show) was a standard in most American classrooms. You know the story: place twelve white men in a jury room, put the life of......

10) While LA's Silversun Pickups can't seem to shed the Smashing Pumpkins comparisons despite releasing a record -- "Carnavas" -– that tops anything Billy Corgan's done since Siamese Dream, the only think rockin' in Chicago these days is the back seat of R. Kelly's stretch Benz. 9) Ex-Illinois Governor George Ryan may be headed to jail for his activities as a corrupt, crony-lovin' highway-to-nowhere-building Republican, but he at least had the foresight to impose......

Whether you subscribe to a belief system (or sub-set thereof) that is trigger happy, enforces strict lex talionis, upholds the supreme sanctity of life, or is a little confused, it's inevitable that humans have and will continue to execute each other. An Amnesty International report shows that a minimum of 2,148 people were executed in 2005, and suspects the actual number around at least 20,000. For perspective, 2,403 people were killed in Pearl Harbor......

- African-American LAFD firefighter Tennie Pierce (no relation) awarded $2.7 million in a racial harassment suit that was settled yesterday. A Captain bought dog food, a second firefighter mixed in into Pierce's spaghetti, and another Captain knew what Pierce was about to eat but didn't warn him. - LA Times - Unrelated: Fire Captain allegedly tortured Eagle Rock woman before he strangled her, making the murder eligible for the death penalty - LA Times......

Stan Tookie Williams was pronounced dead at 12:35 this morning in San Quentin, after being executed by lethal injection for the deaths of four people in 1979. The Los Angeles Times website has extensive coverage on Williams' death. One article headline reads that "Williams Accepts Execution Quietly." (On the other side of town, the Daily News lead story notes that Brokeback Mountain leads all Golden Globe nominations. (Is it us, or is there something......

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger denied clemency for Crips founder Stan Tookie Williams this afternoon. A last-minute reprieve for Tookie is considered a longshot, and unless something dramatic happens in the 11th hour, Williams will be put to death by lethal injection just after midnight in San Quentin. If it happens, Williams will be just the 12th person to be executed in California since death penalty was re-established in 1977. Williams was convicted in 1981 of......

This is California's execution chamber. Our taxes pay for it, so in some sense it's our responsibility. But right now there's not a darn thing we can do to prevent Stan Tookie Williams from walking in there at 12:01am next Tuesday to die. It's not like people aren't trying to stop the execution. The NAACP is flying around the state urging clemency, attracting the attention of the press. (There are also those calling for......

With only three weeks until his scheduled execution, it is high time LAist talked about Stanley "Tookie" Williams. As Snoop might say, we gots ta do it. The oddest story in the battle for Tookie's life has to be the prison's attempt to destroy Williams's credibility as a reformed man. What stake does the penal system have in this? They shouldn't care what sentence is meted out for any of their inmates. Their only......

At Dutton's Beverly Hills, Bill Kurtis will be signing his new book, The Death Penalty on Trial, at 7 PM. There will also be a roundtable discussion with Kurtis and members of the Death Penalty Focus Group. Tonight at The Smell, see local favorites The Fucking Champs with Upsilon Acrux, Bad Dudes and Goliath Bird Eater. Doors open at 9 PM and admission is $5.......

The Los Angeles Independent reports that suspects have been arrested in connection with a robbery at the St. Regis Liquor store on Third Street, east of the Beverly Center. Two men and two women are accused of the special circumstance allegation of murder during the commission of a robbery, which could make them eligible for the death penalty for the killing of Jae Yang Dec. 18 at his liquor store just east of the......

Today is not just any Thursday. It's also the opening day of the The Fellowship Of Reconciliation's 2004 National Conference--"ORGANIZING THE REAL SUPERPOWER:People of the World Choose Peace" Thursday, August 5 to Monday, August 9th. on the Occidental College Campus in Eagle Rock. Attendees from all over the world gather to hear speakers such as Three-time Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Kathy Kelly; Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop ordained in the Episcopal......