The grim recent news out of Norway has spawned interesting commentary this week. The New York Times summarizes the basic facts: "at least 76 people were killed in the bombing of a government building in central Oslo and a shooting rampage at a youth camp . . . . A man described as a right-wing fundamentalist Christian, Anders Behring Breivik, was seized by the police at the island and charged with both incidents." Breivik appears to have been motivated by "what he saw as the threat of multiculturalism and Muslim immigration to the cultural and patriotic values of his country." Recent articles suggest that Breivik, if convicted, may face a sentence of no more than 21 years; that any such sentence might be served in a prison that "looks more like a cross between an IKEA and college dorm"; and that Breivik's actions have not changed most Norweigans' commitment to a criminal justice system that has no death penalty and appears to emphasize rehabilitation to a much greater degree than does ours. In other news: 1. The first merits hearing under the Racial Justice Act is scheduled for September 6 in Cumberland County. It's already attracting national interest, as the WSJ Law Blog reports here. The Fayetteville Observer story is here. 2. Could the oppressively hot, humid weather we've experienced lately have a silver lining? The Washington Examiner reports here that homicides in D.C. are down during the heat wave. A professor at Florida International University suggests that "people say 'it's [...]
Faculty Coordinators
