Apparently, it has occurred formally now. A NYTimes Editorial today said:

Last year, President Obama’s speech to the United Nations was full of promise and determination to advance Palestinian statehood through negotiations with Israel. This year, his address was about lowering expectations and a dispiriting realpolitik as the president spoke of how “peace is hard” and vowed to veto the Palestinians’ bid for statehood if it came to a Security Council vote. Mr. Obama had no choice but to stand by Israel, this country’s historic ally. [. . .] But there should be no illusions about the high cost both Israel and this country will pay if this stalemate is allowed to drag on any longer.

There is plenty of blame to go around. The main responsibility right now belongs to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel who refuses to make any serious compromises for peace.

In a meeting with bloggers yesterday, Bill Clinton explained that part of this is due to the changing demographics of Israel, with many newcomers having little respect for the Palestinian position and driving for more land on the West Bank. Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy provides more detail on Clinton's remarks on the Israel- Palestine situation.

In a conference with bloggers at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting held in New York September 20-22, former President Bill Clinton said that advances in DNA evidence technology should lead to reform of death penalty appeal procedures. Questioned by Amanda Turkel of the Huffington Post about the execution of Troy Davis, former President Clinton said:

In any case where there's any chance that any DNA evidence could change the outcome of the trial -- I think that -- this is just me now -- I think that the appeals process has to be slowed down and organized so that any evidence of innocence can always be presented and then acted upon.

As Turkel notes, the appellate process for death penalty cases was severely hampered by the the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which Clinton signed into law.

If only it were as easy to end the death penalty as it was for Texas to end last meals for those about to be executed.

Texas inmates who are set to be executed will no longer get their choice of last meals, after a prominent state senator voiced concern over a request from a man condemned for a notorious race killing.

...It is extremely inappropriate to give a person sentenced to death such a privilege," Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, wrote in a letter to Brad Livingston, the executive director of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Livingston agreed and with one fell swoop of his pen, ended the practice. [More...]

I've got lots of work today -- Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Ron Wyden have written this letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, accusing the Justice department of "making misleading statements about the legal justification of secret domestic surveillance activities that the government is apparently carrying out under the Patriot Act."

Wyden and Udall have been raising this issue about Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows the Government to obtain business records, for months.

[T]he senators contend that the government has also interpreted the provision, based on rulings by the secret national security court, as allowing some other kind of activity that allows the government to obtain private information about people who have no link to a terrorism or espionage case.

They want DOJ to release the legal interpretations they are relying on to enforce the provision. [More...]

The ACLU tweeted last nightt:

In case it wasn't obvious: the only way to avoid executing the innocent is end the deathpenalty.

Back in 2009, I wrote this post about Justice Anton Scalia's view of the Troy Davis case, the presumption of innocence, which back in 1895 in a case called Coffin v. U.S, the Supreme Court called a "bedrock" of our criminal justice system, and on why those who "did it" may be just as at risk of a miscarriage of justice as those who are innocent. From the Coffin case: [More...]

Troy Davis was executed at 11:08 pm ET.

This execution was a grievous wrong. Rest in Peace, Troy Davis.

Let the dialogue continue. America needs to end state-sanctioned killings.[More...]

Troy Davis is scheduled for execution at 7:00 pm ET. Here are some continuous updates:

10:20 pm: Supreme Court rejects stay. No dissenting opinions. The order reads simply:

The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied.

9:00 ET: Georgia State Patrol now out in force at prison, triples in size. Video here. Amnesty Int'l says family is being prepared for news. Doesn't sound good. [More...]

Open Thread.

Via thers, Elizabeth Warren:

Text on the flip.

Open Thread.

This WaPo story on the treatment of women in the Obama White House, based on reporting in Ron Susskind's new book, is neither surprising nor unusual. From the WaPo story:

Friction about the roles of women in the Obama White House grew so intense during the first two years of the president’s tenure that he was forced to take steps to reassure senior women on his staff that he valued their presence and their input. At a dinner in November 2009, several senior female aides complained directly to the president that men enjoyed greater access to him and often muscled them out of key policy discussions.

For women across the world, this is no doubt a familiar story. Men (especially men like me, to be clear) aggressively try to dominate discussions, oftentimes to the detriment of women. We need to be more sensitive about this issue in all contexts. I'm glad that Valerie Jarrett brought the problem to the President's attention, and hopefully the situation improved. But honestly, this is not a White House story, but a story about one of the many obstacles women face in all settings.

Speaking for me only

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole has rejected clemency for Troy Davis.

His legal appeals are exhausted, so his latest last-ditch effort before the parole board appears to be his last chance to be spared execution.

No appeal to the Supreme Court allowed?

Good read: Andrew Cohen's The Death Penalty: Why We Fight for Equal Justice.

Former President Bill Clinton is about to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative. You can watch live here. Or follow on Twitter here.

UPDATE by BTD - I'll be attending the CGI this afternoon at some point and maybe tomorrow. Anything in particular anyone want covered?

In Brussels, Attorney General Eric Holder said Obama remains committed to closing Guantanamo despite Republican opposition. If he doesn't get it done before the election, he'll keep trying after.

"We will be pressing for the closure of the facility between now and then - and after that election, we will try to close it as well," Holder said. "Some people have made this a political issue without looking at, I think, the real benefits that would flow from the closure of the facility."

He also said there will be no return to harsh interrogation techniques/torture:

Holder also said that the United States would stick to the "fundamental break" with some interrogation techniques that were criticized around the world as amounting to torture...."We have indicated that certain techniques that were used previously are in fact torture, and will not be engaged in again by the United States," Holder said.