Punishment

A bill in the California Legislature would open jury duty to noncitizen legal residents, a risky experiment in fundamental U.S. law. The Assembly last week passed a bill that immediately drew nationwide attention - for all the wrong reasons. There goes that wacky Golden State again! Assembly Bill 1401, which now goes to the state Senate, would allow noncitizens who are legal residents to serve on juries. If this becomes law, California will be the only state that opens its jury pool to noncitizens.

When Philadelphia doctor Kermit Gosnell was put on trial for murder, activists seized on the case as a symbol of all that is wrong with abortion in America, and used it to call for tighter restrictions and stepped-up oversight. But though Gosnell's behavior was deplorable, macabre and unquestionably illegal, it was aberrational, not symbolic. He has now been convicted, and he will be punished. This does not weaken the case for safe, legal and accessible abortion. Gosnell, a 72-year-old doctor who was neither an obstetrician nor a gynecologist (having failed to complete a residency in those specialties, according to a grand jury report)

Neither the death penalty nor paddling may be a deterrent, but both are punishment. And punishment is its own reward. LEONARD E. MEADS Los Angeles

Damien Valentine knows painfully well about a national phenomenon that is imperiling the academic achievement of minority students, particularly African Americans like himself: the pervasive and disproportionate use of suspensions from school for mouthing off and other acts of defiance. The Manual Arts Senior High School sophomore has been suspended several times beginning in seventh grade, when he was sent home for a day and a half for refusing to change his seat because he was talking.

Here's a tip for lawbreakers: If you ever find yourself in court, ask for a jury of chimpanzees. They'll never convict. Despite being one of the closest living relatives to humans, chimps lack the urge to punish thieves who are caught red-handed, unless they themselves are the victims, according to a study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. In a series of experiments involving 13 furry subjects with names like Frodo, Natascha and Ulla, the animals showed no interest in intervening when they observed a fellow chimpanzee purloining grapes and food pellets from a third chimp.

Alarmed by reports that Saudi Arabia will paralyze a man as punishment for allegedly stabbing a friend who ended up paralyzed, Britain urged the kingdom Thursday to abandon the “grotesque punishment.” The Saudi Gazette reported last week that Ali Khawahir was sentenced to be paralyzed if he could not pay 1 million riyals - roughly $270,000 - to the friend he allegedly stabbed a decade ago. Khawahir was reportedly 14 years old when he...

Nine-year-old Savannah Hardin is dead because she wanted a chocolate bar. The Alabama girl's stepmother and grandmother found out that she'd eaten the candy without permission, according to police, and punished her by making her run for three hours while they looked on. The third-grader suffered seizures and died. Hours after being arrested in connection with the girl's death, the stepmother gave birth. She remains under guard at an Alabama hospital. The Associated Press is reporting that prosecutors may seek the death penalty.

If Cole Hamels was an everyday player, the five-game suspension the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher received for intentionally hitting Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper with a pitch might be considered significant. For pitchers, however, five games is next to nothing -- one start at best. And in Hamels' case this week, the suspension actually does amount to nothing as he really won't miss a turn in the rotation. He began serving the suspension Monday night, the day after the incident occurred.

I agree with Douglas Cavanaugh's June 9 letter that prison is for punishment, not rehabilitation. I also believe that once a jury decides the guilt of a defendant and the judge pronounces sentence, that sentence should stand. Therefore, California does not need a parole board. Let's have an initiative to change the law to eliminate parole for any prisoner. That would be another step to help reduce crime in our state. Robert H. Congelliere San Pedro

Re "Verdict In on High-Tech Courtroom Presentations," April 2. "Find Him Guilty" projected large and colorful on the courtroom wall. Ventura County prosecutors' bloated budget allows them to use the latest in high technology to exploit the synergy of entertainment and the lust to punish. We've seen this before. For a rather blunt but enlightening look at the punishment-entertainment correlation pick up a copy of the recently published book "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America."

DETROIT - Controversy was bound to appear at some stage of this tightly contested playoff series, and it showed up at Joe Louis Arena late in the second period in Game 3. It came in the form of a crushing hit by Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader on Ducks defenseman Toni Lydman, driving a woozy Lydman from the game and leading to Abdelkader's ejection. Talk about the definition of a game changer. BOX SCORE: Ducks 4, Detroit 0 The Ducks' Nick Bonino scored 18 seconds into the five-minute major penalty for charging assessed to Abdelkader, breaking open a scoreless game, and Anaheim did not look back, beating Detroit, 4-0, on Saturday night.

A bill in the California Legislature would open jury duty to noncitizen legal residents, a risky experiment in fundamental U.S. law. The Assembly last week passed a bill that immediately drew nationwide attention - for all the wrong reasons. There goes that wacky Golden State again! Assembly Bill 1401, which now goes to the state Senate, would allow noncitizens who are legal residents to serve on juries. If this becomes law, California will be the only state that opens its jury pool to noncitizens.

You won't be surprised to hear that a movie called "Fists of Legend" boasts plenty of hand-to-hand (and foot-to-body) contact. But the title of this overlong yet involving Korean actioner is a wink too. It refers to a fictional TV show that recruits middle-aged citizens to relive their high school fighting days in hyped-up mixed martial arts battles, all for the chance at fleeting reality fame and quick cash. Lured to perform are three long-estranged buddies - noodle shop-owning widower and ex-boxer Deok-kyu (Hwang Jung-min)

It's not enough that medical insurance companies want to dictate how much and what kind of treatment our illnesses deserve. Now legislators and law enforcement agencies are butting in, trying to curtail the use of high-powered painkillers because too many people are dying from abuse of prescription drugs. A physicians group is asking the Food and Drug Administration for stricter guidelines on how the drugs are used, an FDA advisory panel has recommended limiting patients to fewer pills and making prescriptions harder to refill, and Congress is considering a bill that would bump hydrocodone-based pills - Vicodin, Norco and Lortab - into the same controlled-substance class as opium.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers should have been selling red herrings at the souvenir stand. Josh Hamilton says this is not a baseball town, and tens of thousands of actual adults lay in wait for him, hiding behind those words to unleash wave upon wave of fury and indignation. Baseball town, football town, whatever. Hamilton took the money and ran off with the Angels. Boo him if you like - and the sellout crowd at the Rangers' home opener booed him hostilely on Friday during a 3-2 Texas win - but at least be honest about it. Of course this is a football town.

Rather than concentrate on the execution of the crime, this week's DVDs focus on what comes afterward: first the trial, then, for the unlucky, time behind bars. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, 1959's “Anatomy of a Murder” is one of the great American courtroom dramas. Directed by Otto Preminger, it features Jimmy Stewart as a small-town lawyer defending Ben Gazzara against a murder charge brought by George C. Scott's hard-driving prosecutor. Archetypes don't get more archetypal than this, with a great Duke Ellington score thrown in for good measure.

The New Orleans Saints have been hit hard by the NFL for their "pay-for-performance" bounty system. Really hard -- their season may be ruined. But then again, their behavior could have ruined much more than a single season for some opposing players. After a three-year investigation, the Saints were found to be paying players -- from a cash pool made up of contributions from players, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and others -- for injuring opponents. Four people have been suspended: Head Coach Sean Payton for the entire 2012 season without pay; General Manager Mickey Loomis for the first eight games; defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, now with the St.

Re "Too harsh," editorial, Jan. 16 Your editorial rightfully characterized sentencing youths to life without parole as cruel and unusual punishment. It did not answer the question of how many of them end up in prolonged solitary confinement in a "supermax" prison. The larger question of conscience is the use of such prisons for any but the most dangerous prisoners guilty of the most heinous crimes. Such confinement must be judged cruel and unusual punishment, and allowing it to continue will someday be viewed as the national shame it is. We have lost our own humanity when we allow fear and vengeance to bring us to treat our fellow humans without humanity.

Alarmed by reports that Saudi Arabia will paralyze a man as punishment for allegedly stabbing a friend who ended up paralyzed, Britain urged the kingdom Thursday to abandon the “grotesque punishment.” The Saudi Gazette reported last week that Ali Khawahir was sentenced to be paralyzed if he could not pay 1 million riyals - roughly $270,000 - to the friend he allegedly stabbed a decade ago. Khawahir was reportedly 14 years old when he...

PHOENIX -- Despite complaints that they are fundamentally changing the game, NFL owners voted almost unanimously Wednesday to ban players from ducking their heads to initiate contact in the open field. The rules change, which capped the league's annual meeting, passed by a 31-1 margin, with the only vote against it coming from the Cincinnati Bengals. The rule imposes a 15-yard penalty if a runner or tackler initiates forcible contact by delivering a blow with the crown (top) of his helmet when both players are clearly outside the tackle box. The tackle box is defined as an area extending from offensive tackle to tackle and from three yards beyond the line of scrimmage back to the end zone behind the line of scrimmage.