Nuclear Future

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More countries--and terrorist groups--want the means to make nuclear weapons, so there's a black market in materials and technology. But a recent effort to update the Treaty on Nuclear Non-proliferation has ended in failure. The International Agency for Atomic Energy, which has the difficult job of monitoring nations with nuclear power programs, crossed the Bush Administration before the Iraq War by disagreeing about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The US failed to prevent Mohamed ElBaradei's third term at the IAEA, and they've reconciled for the moment. While some critics contend the Bush Administration is making it harder to keep proliferation under control, ElBaradei's critics contend he's politicized the IAEA, making its job even harder, especially with regard to Iran. Can the US get along with the UN's nuclear watchdog? What about Iran and North Korea? Is the risk of a nuclear holocaust becoming more or less likely? Making News: Supreme Court Overturns Conviction of Black Death Row Inmate The US Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of Thomas Miller-El, a black inmate on death row in Texas, ruling that his jury was unfairly stacked with white people. Clarence Thomas, the only black justice on the Court, dissented. David Savage, who reports on the court for the Los Angeles Times, says the court has clearly demonstrated that it is not going to tolerate race bias in jury selection, even in old cases. Reporter's Notebook: Senate Apologizes for Not Outlawing Lynching, While Mississippi Burning Trial Begins In 1964, a part-time Baptist minister was acquitted in federal court of violating the civil rights of Andre Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney, who were brutally murdered after going to Mississippi to register black citizens to vote. Today, jury selection is under way in the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen, as the US Senate prepares an apology. Veteran civil rights worker Lawrence Guyot knew all three of the murder victims, and later became chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.
More countries--and terrorist groups--want the means to make nuclear weapons, so there's a black market in materials and technology. But a recent effort to update the Treaty on Nuclear Non-proliferation has ended in failure. The International Agency for Atomic Energy, which has the difficult job of monitoring nations with nuclear power programs, crossed the Bush Administration before the Iraq War by disagreeing about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. The US failed to prevent Mohamed ElBaradei's third term at the IAEA, and they've reconciled for the moment. While some critics contend the Bush Administration is making it harder to keep proliferation under control, ElBaradei's critics contend he's politicized the IAEA, making its job even harder, especially with regard to Iran. Can the US get along with the UN's nuclear watchdog? What about Iran and North Korea? Is the risk of a nuclear holocaust becoming more or less likely?
  • Making News: Supreme Court Overturns Conviction of Black Death Row Inmate
    The US Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of Thomas Miller-El, a black inmate on death row in Texas, ruling that his jury was unfairly stacked with white people. Clarence Thomas, the only black justice on the Court, dissented. David Savage, who reports on the court for the Los Angeles Times, says the court has clearly demonstrated that it is not going to tolerate race bias in jury selection, even in old cases.
  • Reporter's Notebook: Senate Apologizes for Not Outlawing Lynching, While Mississippi Burning Trial Begins
    In 1964, a part-time Baptist minister was acquitted in federal court of violating the civil rights of Andre Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney, who were brutally murdered after going to Mississippi to register black citizens to vote. Today, jury selection is under way in the murder trial of Edgar Ray Killen, as the US Senate prepares an apology. Veteran civil rights worker Lawrence Guyot knew all three of the murder victims, and later became chair of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Miller-El v Dretke, US Supreme Court on

Johnson v California, US Supreme Court on

Apology to lynching victims for Senate's failure to enact anti-lynching legislation (SR 39)

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Warren Olney