The morning’s sentencing news

It is another morning with newspapers filled with interesting stories on both capital and non-capital sentencing topics.  Here’s a sample of some of the highlights:

• On the death penalty front, the big news from Virginia, as detailed here and here, comes from state Attorney General Jerry Kilgore’s proposed legislation to make it easier for prosecutors to seek the death penalty in cases like the Washington-area sniper killings.  In this editorial, the Roanoke Times is already criticizing the AG for “playing politics with life and death.”

• In other capital developments up the coast, this editorial from The Republican in Massachusetts advocates that Connecticut not execute serial killer Michael Ross even though there are no doubts about his guilt.  (Background on the Ross case can be found here and here.)

• From the Blakely desk, this story from Pittsburgh details the Blakely claims being made by a retired state trooper appealing his 1989 homicide sentence.  And this story from St. Louis details that St. Louis Rams player Leonard Little has failed in his attempt, noted previously here, to use Blakely to get his pending felony drunken driving charge dismissed.