News and Commentary from the University of Maryland, College Park
Below are excerpts of recent news pieces with links to the full article. All are welcome to submit writings. Got some energy and need inspiration, or got an idea that you would like to see someone write about? Start collaborating with the press, here Submissions excepted online here. or by email
No More Death Penalty for Juveniles by Matthew Johnson
Parents can breathe a sigh of relief as of March 1, no persons who commit a punishable crime before their 18th birthday can receive the death penalty under U.S. law.
The U.S. joins the rest of the free world in this landmark decision, which relates to the 2002 Atkins v. Virginia decision, banning the death penalty for the moderately mentally retarded. Like the execution of the mentally retarded, it is now considered "cruel and unusual punishment" to execute persons under 18 years of age
The decision was passed 5-4. Notable dissenters included Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.
Christopher Simmons, spared from the death penalty in Missouri on March 1, joins 72 other cases of criminals who committed crimes punishable by death, but will now be
downgraded to lesser sentences.
Twenty-two juveniles have been executed since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976.
Rumsfeld Charged with Torture by Matthew Johnson
The American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First have filed a federal court lawsuit in Illinois against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, charging him with direct involvement in the torture of detainees held in U.S. custody.
The two organizations are claiming that the secretary's actions violated the U.S. Constitution as well as international law. This is the first lawsuit against Rumsfeld and other officials who have not been disciplined for their involvement in detainee abuse. The extent of their involvement remains disputed.
The ACLU and Human Rights First stand against all variants of torture that have been practiced in Afghanistan and Iraq, including severe beatings, painful restraints,
sexual humiliations, sexual assaults, death threats, and other incidents.
(ACLU.org for more information)
Ward Churchill, Morgan Hubbard, and Plagiarism
by L. Information
Plagiarism n 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work 2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
Morgan's Hubbard recent 
column on Ward Churchill was a disgrace to the Diamondback and Hubbard himself. I do not say this because of the jokes about violence against Churchill. Violence is rarely funny, and even less so when such bad jokes are aimed at an individual whose career is suffering because "credible" death threats have led multiple universities to cancel his speaking engagements.
Neither should Hubbard simply be chastised for simply repeating the "talking points" of Fox News, the Free Republic and other attack media. No, Hubbard disgraced himself because he repeated the words of another columnist without citing them or even understanding where they came from. In journalism as in college there is a word for that: plagiarism.
Democracy For Haiti by L. Information
While much press was garnered by the peaceful protests in Beirut that helped achieve the resignation of the Syrian backed president there, another peaceful protest for Democracy was largely ignored by the press. In Port-Au-Prince on March 1st, the Haitian people called for the return of the elected president Jean Bertrand Aristide and for the unelected leaders to respect their freedom of speech.
The police responded to the non-violent march on the anniversary of the most recent coup with live ammunition from U.S. made rifles, killing five.
Unfortunately, the origin of these rifles is not the only connection between violence in Haiti and the U.S. government. Furthermore, this event is only one in a pattern of Political violence that borders on politicide.