On August 17, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a lower court judge to hear new evidence in a death penalty appeal called In re Troy Davis, 08-1443. The case, from Georgia, concerns whether actual innocence is enough to stop capital punishment from being carried out, when the prisoner had lost his or her previous appeals. The Court on August 17 also agreed to accept the amicus curiae brief of Bob Barr. Normally the Court doesn’t need to decide whether to accept amici briefs, because both sides waive any objections. However, in this case, the state of Georgia had refused to waive its objections to Barr’s brief, so the Court had to decide whether to accept it. Barr argues on the side of the prisoner, Troy Davis.

The Court’s vote on whether to accept the case was 6-2. Justice Sotomayor did not participate and Justices Scalia and Thomas were in the minority. The only other amicus submitted in the case is from the NAACP, and both sides had agreed to accept that brief.

The Interim Chair of the National Organizing Continuations Committee is Debra Reiger, of Sacramento, California. The announcement naming her was issued on August 17. The National Organizing Continuations Committee intends to build a new national political party of the left, somewhat loosely based on the Peace & Freedom Party of California. The new party will not necessarily have the name “Peace & Freedom”. Reiger is the north state organizer for the California Peace & Freedom Party. For further information contact her at debra.reiger@earthlink.net, or (916) 698-8131.

Various Rhode Island town clerks have now determined that the Moderate Party has enough valid signatures to be a qualified party for 2010. UPDATE: see this newspaper story, covering the Moderate Party’s achievement. The Moderate Party is the first party in history to qualify itself by petition in Rhode Island. The party petition procedure has only existed since 1994. In the past, the Green Party and the Reform Party and the Cool Moose Party have also been qualified parties in Rhode Island, but they got that status by running an independent candidate (with party label) for President or Governor and getting 5% of the vote for that candidate.