20K Honor Slain Wash. Cops

$125K reward for info; more than one gun was used in attack

(NEWSER) - Police in Washington state are hoping the wife of suspected cop-killer Maurice Clemmons can help them find her husband. Officers were warned to today to be on the lookout for Nicole Cheryleen Smith, possibly driving a green 1997 Mazda Millenia to Arkansas. Police have posted a $125,000 reward for information on Clemmons after chasing down numerous leads, including a standoff last night and this morning at the suspect's home that proved fruitless. More»

2011 marks a disturbing first for police departments

(NEWSER) - The New York Times takes a look at the rising number of police officers getting shot, according to FBI stats. A few of the details:

• Spike in 2011: 72 officers were fatally shot last year, up 25% from 2010 and 75% from 2008.
• Bad milestone: That marks the first time more cops were shot to death than killed in car accidents.

Mike Huckabee's decision was unfortunate, but just

(NEWSER) - Mike Huckabee's mercy in granting clemency to cop killer Maurice Clemmons was horribly betrayed, but that's no reason to reject the very notion of clemency, writes Michael Gerson. Strong arguments in favor of the role clemency plays in the justice system were made at the time of the Founding Fathers, when Alexander Hamilton argued that "justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel" without it, Gerson writes in the Washington Post. More»

Police find, shoot Maurice Clemmons in south Seattle neighborhood

(NEWSER) - Seattle police have shot and killed the man suspected of gunning down four police officers in Lakewood, a suburb 35 miles south of the city, on Sunday. Police tracked Maurice Clemmons down early today after acting on leads about his possible acquaintances. "We knew the noose was tightening,” a police spokesman tells the Tacoma News-Tribune. “Seattle police made contact with him, and he was shot and killed.” More»

Ex-gov said to be a sucker for cons who got religion

(NEWSER) - Maurice Clemmons isn’t the first killer Mike Huckabee released as governor thanks to his religious sense of mercy. Huckabee granted more commutations and pardons than any governor in the 40 years before him. Some, no doubt, were warranted by Arkansas’ draconian drug laws, but many more came courtesy of pastor recommendations, writes Joe Conason on Salon . “No doubt word spread among the prison population that the affable governor was vulnerable to appeals from convicts who claimed to be born again.” More»