SUPREME COURT HELPS DEATH ROW CHALLENGERS

Supreme Court helpsdeath row challengers
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court made it easier Monday for death row inmates to contest the lethal injections used across the country for executions and to get DNA evidence before judges in a pair of rulings that hinted at fresh caution on capital punishment. The decisions, both written by moderate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, ease the rules for longtime prisoners to get their cases back into court and could add years to their appeals. The vote was unanimous in allowing condemned inmates to make special federal court claims that the chemicals used in executions are too painful -- and therefore amount to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment. In the other case, the justices' 5-3 ruling lowers the bar for inmates who want to get a new hearing on evidence that was not used at their trials.
DOE data theft
WASHINGTON -- Energy Department officials have informed nearly 1,500 individuals that their Social Security numbers and other information may have been compromised when a hacker gained entry to a department computer system eight months ago, a spokesman said Monday. The workers, mostly contract employees, worked for the National Nuclear Security Administration, a semiautonomous agency within the department that deals with the government's nuclear weapons programs. The computer theft occurred last September, but Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and his deputy, Clay Sell, were not informed of it until last week. It was first publicly disclosed at a congressional hearing Friday. Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the NNSA, said about 800 workers were reached over the weekend, and by late Monday all but a small number had been contacted.
Guard troops are scaringmigrants, officials say
SAN LUIS RIO COLORADO, Mexico -- The arrival of U.S. National Guard troops in Arizona has scared off illegal Mexican migrants along the border, significantly reducing crossings, according to U.S. and Mexican officials. U.S. authorities said Monday that detentions along the U.S.-Mexico border decreased by 21 percent, to 26,994, in the first 10 days of June, compared with 34,077 for the same period a year ago. Along the Arizona border, once the busiest crossing spot, detentions have dropped 23 percent, according to the U.S. Border Patrol. Detentions dropped 31 percent, to 8,308 from 11,977, along the Texas and New Mexico border.
West Bank violence
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Hundreds of Palestinian security men loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas went on a rampage against the Hamas-led government Monday, riddling the parliament building and Cabinet offices with bullets before setting them ablaze in retaliation for an attack by Hamas gunmen in the Gaza Strip. The violence was the most serious in the West Bank since Hamas defeated Abbas' Fatah movement in legislative elections in January and raised new fears the Palestinians could be headed toward civil war. It also cast doubt on renewed calls for Palestinian unity by the rival factions. Abbas, a moderate who was elected separately last year, has been locked in a bitter power struggle with Hamas. The dispute has focused largely on control of the powerful security forces.
Associated Press