[JURIST] Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. announced Thursday that he has called for the abolition of the death penalty in Maryland. Read the press release, his open letter [PDF] to Maryland's Governor and members of the Maryland General Assembly, and a text of remarks [PDF] prepared for his Thursday press conference.

[JURIST] Read Attorney General John Ashcroft's remarks on the US Justice Department's efforts to combat and control gun crime [speech text], delivered Thursday in Philadelphia at the Project Safe Neighborhoods National Conference. The DOJ has prepared an accompanying fact sheet.

[JURIST] Wednesday's Order by Virginia Circuit Court Judge Jane Marum Roush setting November 10, 2003 as the trial date [order, PDF] for DC sniper suspect Lee Malvo is now available online from the Fairfax County Circuit Court. In another Order Thursday, Judge Roush appointed Richmond attorney Craig S. Cooley [Martindale Hubbell profile] as defense co-counsel [order, PDF] with Springfield lawyer Michael S. Arif [Martindale Hubbell profile].

[JURIST] Thursday's 10-9 party-line vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee advancing the nomination of US DC Court of Appeals candidate Miguel Estrada to the full Senate has drawn quick criticism from the Alliance for Justice [AFJ press release] and People for the American Way [PFAW press release].

[JURIST] The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-9 along party lines Thursday to approve the nomination of Miguel Estrada [DOJ profile] to the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The vote will soon be recorded on the Committee's nominations website. The text of opening statements by Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch supporting the nomination [statement text] and Ranking Member Senator Patrick Leahy opposing it [statement text] are now online.

[JURIST] The US State Department Thursday posted on its website the text of a January 14 speech given at Georgetown University by Policy Planning Director Richard N. Haass in which he advances the concept of conditional sovereignty [speech text], which may be forfeited if states violate minimum standards of responsibility by committing, permitting, or threatening intolerable acts against their own people or other nations.

[JURIST report] Recorded video of Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing for judicial nominees Deborah Cook, John Roberts, Jeffrey Sutton, John Adams, Robert Junell and S. James Otero is now online from the Committee [votes on these nominations are still pending]. The text of opening remarks by Committee Chairman Senator Orrin Hatch is also available.