Mitchell, No. 05-3538 Denial of death row inmate's petition for writ of habeas corpus is affirmed where: 1) petitioner failed to demonstrate that his equal protection rights were violated because he did not demonstrate discriminatory purpose and effect in the prosecutor's decision to seek the death penalty; and 2) petitioner's due process rights were not violated in a pretrial identification procedure since it was reliable under… [read post]

Editor's note: This post was originally published at 7:34 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, 2015 As the gavel comes down on the 113th Congress (which spanned January 2013 to December 2014), and the new 114th Congress begins its work today, it’s a good time to take stock of what was achieved and what lies ahead for animals in the New Year. [read post]