Gotta love the Guardian, which brings, I think, the right amount of anger and frustration and bemusement to bear on this sad, sad story:

A death row prisoner who has been medically diagnosed as "mentally retarded" and therefore exempt from execution is set to die on Tuesday in Texas, a state that rejects scientific consensus and instead applies its own definition of learning difficulties based on a character in a John Steinbeck novel.

The work done by attorneys who defend death row inmates has got to be some of the most important, and most depressing, done by anyone with a J.D.