Cory Maye

Radley Balko summarizes the Cory Maye case on the Cato website today. Maye is on death row in Mississippi for fatally shooting a policeman during a raid on his home late one night. Although looking for a "large stash" of marijuana, police found only a gram's worth of ashes. As Balko points out, paramilitary raids by police are not uncommon and often involve errors and tragedies. "There are dozens of examples of late night 'no-knock' drug raids executed on the wrong home, or on people guilty of, at worst, misdemeanor offenses. Any gun owner willing to defend his family from intruders could well be in the same position Cory Maye was in four years ago," Balko writes.

Balko also points out that the firing of the public defender who represented Maye indicates that the authorities have something to hide. Kudos to Balko for keeping on top of the case.