28 juvenile offenders in Texas are leaving death row. Gov. Rick Perry signed the commutation orders today. He made it clear he was signing the orders only because of the Supreme Court decision 3 months ago banning the death penalty for those who are under 18 at the time of their crime as cruel and unusual punishment.

On a related note, Gov. Perry sure stuck his foot in his mouth when a camera caught him calling a reporter a "motherf**ker" at the end of a interview session. Crooks and Liars has the video. Perry has telephoned the reporter and apologized.

Update: The Houston Chronicle reports (June 22, 2005, available on Lexis.com):

Gov. Rick Perry thought he was off-camera, but a Houston television station caught the governor using an abbreviated version of a 12-letter word best left in the locker room.

Perry called the reporter on Tuesday and apologized for the "inappropriate" word.

The incident occurred Monday as Perry gave a series of interviews in preparation for a special session on public school finance. The governor refused to give details of a property tax cut plan that he was set to unveil on Tuesday.

KTRK (Channel 13) reporter Ted Oberg pressed him for details. "You'll have to wait until tomorrow. I hate to let you guys in on it and no one else," Perry said. After the interview ended, Oberg told Perry, "Try as I may, governor, I guess I can't win this one." About 20 seconds later, Perry repeated what he apparently thought Oberg had said, and then added his own touch.

"Try as I may, governor, I'm not going to wait that long. Adios," Perry said, adding an expression that's an abbreviation for a word - as Oberg said in his report - that "isn't something you want to say to your mother or use in good company."