News Roundup

Since tomorrow’s a holiday, I’m rounding up the news today. Far and away my favorite story of the week involves the near-arrest of Batman. Holy caped crusader! The initial story, here ^[1], notes that a man dressed as Batman and driving a black Lamborghini was stopped for speeding on I-270 near Silver Spring, Maryland. The follow-up story, here ^[2], explains that the driver really is a superhero, in a way. It’s worth a read. (Hat tip: Crime and Consequences.)

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In other news:

1. The North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission has unanimously referred the case of Willie Grimes to a three-judge panel for review. In 1987, Grimes was sentenced to life in prison for rape, but new evidence, including fingerprints from fruit found in the victim’s home, suggests that another man may have been the perpetrator. The News and Observer has the story here ^[4].
2. The United States Supreme Court decided Florence v. County of Burlington ^[5], which generally holds that all arrestees processed into jail may be strip searched, no matter how minor the charges. Although Jamie’s on leave at the moment, there’s a chance he’ll post a complete analysis of the case from his undisclosed location next week.
3. As a former Northern California resident, I couldn’t resist this story ^[6], which begins “Federal agents raided a cannabis cultivation college on Monday in the San Francisco Bay area widely known as the ‘Princeton of Pot’ and the ’Harvard of Hemp.’” Who knew there was such a thing? I’m pretty sure someone out there can do something with the words “Duke” or “Carolina,” and if so, please post a comment.
4. I previously posted ^[7] a few thoughts about the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman case. Here’s ^[8] a story about how NBC News edited Zimmerman’s 911 call in a really egregious way. NBC has apologized for its work, but if you haven’t seen this story, it is a potent reminder that you can’t believe everything that you see, hear, or read, even from major news outlets.
5. On a more positive note, this story ^[9] profiles an Illinois sheriff’s new program to teach chess to jail inmates. The sheriff says: “We see it day-in and day-out that people want instant gratification and that often individuals do not think before they act. Thoughtless actions will hurt you while playing chess and hurt you more on the street.” Former world champion Anatoly Karpov notes that a similar program exists in Russia, “and now we have a championship in Russia for detainees and for people who are rotting in prison.” Karpov’s choice of words might not be pictureseque, but there’s still something appealing about inmates working to win a chess title rather than disagreeing about whether to watch sports or Desperate Housewives.

Finally, I’ve come to suspect that our email notification system may not be working perfectly – it appears that some subscribers may not be receiving email notifications of new posts. If you’re a subscriber and haven’t been receiving notifications, please post a comment or send me an email so that we can get a better handle on the scope of the problem. And enjoy the long weekend.