Jamesian Philosophy Refreshed

The title of this post ends with a parenthesis because ... this  first case of the five we will discuss today is not really a matter of statutory interpretation but an exercise of the Court's equitable powers within its area of original jurisdiction. The other four will involve federal statutes: scout's honor. We will spend more than half of what follows on the always pressing issues of criminal sentencing. But let's work up to that, and start out with a aquifier in Dixie.  An Interstate Riparian Dispute  Back in November, SCOTUS dismissed a complaint from Mississippi in its dispute with Tennessee over a groundwater aquifer.    The intriguing thing in this case is that Mississippi's claim was so outrageous one wonders what has happened to the state AG's office, or what happened within it, that could have led to the making of such a futile argument.  Defying a very broad consensus, Mississippi argued that in allowing the Memphis Light, Gas, and Water Divisi...

Mississippi, a state where pro-death-penalty sentiment was and is very strong, executed six people in 2012.  It has not executed anyone in the years since, largely because pharmaceutical companies have made it difficult for states to get their hands on the drugs used for the lethal injections.  But on Thursday, Oct. 21, the Mississippi Supreme Court announced that David Neal Cox -- the fellow portrayed above -- will be executed on Nov. 21 for the murder of his wife Kim, in May 2010.  David Neal Cox shot Kim twice in May 2010, then sexually assaulted his stepdaughter (the murder victim’s daughter) while Kim was dying. Cox has pleaded guilty. Not only to the murder but to the rape as well -- which means he has given the state the necessary "aggravating" factor allowing for his execution.  What about the issue of pharmaceutical gridlock?  The Mississippi Corrections Commissioner, Burl Cain, says the state has the drugs it will need next month.  But he has also...