Reconsidering California’s Death Penalty, and Remembering Wes Craven

Last July a California judge ruled the death penalty unconstitutional in the case of Ernest D Jones. The reasoning behind the judge’s ruling? It’s taking California too long to kill inmates on Death Row. This morning, a federal appeals court panel in Pasadena considered the lower court’s decision. Could this mean the end of the death penalty in California? And while most prisoners are not on death row or even in prison for life, even a short stint can affect them for the rest of their lives. We look at the case of Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith, who was prosecuted for lying to federal agents about an illegal campaign flier and sentenced to a year and a day in a federal prison in rural Kentucky—500 miles from his St. Louis home. Then, 100,000 migrants crossed into Europe last month alone. Over the weekend, European leaders called for an emergency meeting to address the Mediterranean migrant crisis. In the meantime—is there anything that the United States can do? Then, we remember horror movie visionary, Wes Craven, who died Sunday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 76. Finally, the VMA’s were full of not all that surprising surprises last night.

Banner Image: Director Wes Craven attends the premiere of the movie "Drag Me to Hell" at the Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California May 12, 2009. The movie opens in the U.S. on May 29. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni