Bump and Update from 12:06 am:

In recent months, Attorney General John Ashcroft has been over-ruling decisions of his local prosecutors on the death penalty. He is insisting they ask for it. He's threatening to do it in a case in Denver that is set for trial at the beginning of March--over strong objections from the Judge and despite recommendations against it by his local prosecutors.

But now he's reached a new low. The New York Times reports today that in this case in New York, his prosecutors already cut a deal with the defendant for life in prison--and Aschroft just voided it and said they will go for death.

"Mr. Ashcroft has stirred a controversy in federal prosecutors' offices nationally in recent months by insisting that they seek executions in some cases in which they had recommended against it. Under Justice Department rules, local federal prosecutors can only recommend whether to seek the death penalty; the final decision is up to the attorney general."

Leaving aside my objections to the death penalty, this is idiotic. It'll make it impossible to get pleas, which was about the only freaking argument for the death penalty I ever bought - the effectiveness of using it to get people to narc on their pals. I mean, I don't actually know it's all that good for that purpose, but it seems to work pretty well on Law and Order, which is where most of my knowledge of criminal law comes from...