I trust that all my fellow Americans of Norwegian descent had a wonderful Syttende Mai (pronounced something like “SOOT-in my”). Michael Brandon Samra might have briefly hoped his life would be spared the day before Alabama executed him on Thursday. Earlier this year, the state executed Domineque Ray after the Supreme Court refused to issue a stay when Ivey’s government denied the condemned Muslim inmate access to an imam in the death chamber, although it does provide a Christian chaplain. Although California has the nation’s largest death row with 735 condemned inmates, Alabama has the highest per capita rate of death sentences. Examples abound of Supreme Court decisions that deserved to be reversed because they were so egregious; not only wasn’t Roe egregious, it was also correctly decided, says the L.A. Times editorial board.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 18, 2019 10:52 UTC