Some capital case buzz

With closing arguments in the penalty phase of Scott Peterson’s trial being CNN.com’s lead story this afternoon, it seems like a good time to span the internet for various important death penalty stories.  And there are lots of stories to note:

• Reinforcing serious concerns about Texas capital (in)justice (detailed here and here), this disconcerting Chicago Tribune article suggests that Texas earlier this year might have possibly executed an innocent man.  The blogshpere, as evidenced by posts from TalkLeft and Buckeye Law Guy, is already buzzing about the article.

• At the other extreme, this New Jersey Star Ledger article details that acting NJ Gov. Richard Codey has endorsed a moratorium on executions pending a proposed state study of the death penalty.   That announcement has already garnered support in this Philadelphia Inquirer editorial.

• The Death Penalty Information Center has this interesting post about a new book entitled “The Biblical Truth About America’s Death Penalty” which apparently argues that “People of biblical faith must abolish the American death penalty, and we must do so in our time. Moratorium is a way of stopping the practice while others of biblical faith become educated to the biblical truth, a truth that demands nothing less than abolition.”