On December 9th, Mumia Abu-Jamal, arguably the world’s most famous death row prisoner, will have been incarcerated for 30 years. As I’ve written here before, I’ve read the entire transcript of Mumia’s trial, and am convinced that it was unfair and that Mumia should be freed. I feel well qualified to make this determination because while serving two one-year judicial clerkships for the Justices of the Massachusetts Appeals Court it was my job to read trial transcripts and judge the fairness of those trials.

Sunday night we learned that Osama bin Laden was dead, assassinated by an elite U.S. military kill squad, although those aren’t the words they use. I certainly won’t mourn Osama bin Laden, but I don’t feel good about his murder. In fact, I’m trying to figure out why it has left me with such a hollow feeling.

Have you ever encountered a situation that you felt was profoundly wrong on so many levels that you despaired at even finding a starting point to explain your revulsion?