Death penalty news of note

In Connecticut, as thoroughly covered by Kirby’s Reports here and here and in articles here and here, the planned execution of serial killer Michael Ross, scheduled for 2am this Wednesday, has been stayed by Chief US District Judge Robert N. Chatigny so he can hear arguments on Ross’ competency.  Ross is a “volunteer” who has consistently sought to have his execution go forward, but that fact has not stopped a stunning amount of legal wrangling over what would be Connecticut’s first execution of the modern death penalty era. 

In Kansas, as this article details, the state’s Senate Judiciary Committee is debating whether to move forward on a fix to the state’s death penalty procedures — which is necessary because of the Kansas Supreme Court’s Marsh decision last month (discussed here, commentary here and here).

UDPATE: Talkleft has insteresting posts on the Ross stay and on the legislative battle in New York over fixing its death penalty statute.