Cross-posted at Daily Kos.

The state is never wrong, not even in the sad, sad case of Paul House.

Paul House has spent over 20 years on Tennessee’s death row for a crime he didn’t commit. Even the United States Supreme Court agrees that no jury would be able to convict House today based on the evidence presented at the original trial. The only reason House remains imprisoned is that the state of Tennessee refuses to admit it made a mistake.

Furthermore, a sickening sort of politicization is at play here. Death penalty advocates refuse to accept the state could have made a mistake, because they are afraid doing so reinforces the arguments of death penalty opponents. The exhaustive efforts made to exonerate House are seen as nothing more than legal shenanigans aimed at freeing a guilty prisoner.

Nope, the state never makes a mistake.

Ryan Frederick was arraigned today. He was charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and . . . simple possession of marijuana.

That's right. Though police still haven't told us how much marijuana they found, it wasn't enough to charge Frederick with anything more than a misdemeanor. For a misdemeanor, they broke down his door, a cop is dead, and a 28-year-old guy's life is ruined. Looks like the informant mistook Frederick's gardening hobby for an elaborate marijuana growing operation, and those Japanese maple trees for marijuana plants.

Police brutality? No way, not in America.

On Cornville Road, well before the populated area, Sheriff's Sergeant Jeff Neunum apparently tired of waiting for Roberts to reach a settled area. While he was, in fact, a police officer, he now proceeded to justify every fear an American may have about rogue cops. He raced his cruiser in front of Roberts's car, forcing her off the road. He then smashed her driver's-side window with his baton and grabbed a cellphone she was using to check his identity. Accounts vary at this point. While police deny it, the press has reported that Neunum dragged Roberts from her vehicle, threw her to the ground, and handcuffed her while driving his knee into her back.

All laws are for your own good and protection, after all.

Mary Jo Pletz was really, really good at eBay. But now the former stay-at-home mother and gonzo Internet retailer fears a maximum $10 million fine for selling 10,000 toys, antiques, videos, sports memorabilia, books, tools and infant clothes on eBay without an auctioneer's license.

An official from the Department of State knocked on Pletz's white-brick ranch here north of Allentown in late December 2006 and said her Internet business, D&J Virtual Consignment, was being investigated for violating state laws.

Government laws protect us from obviously dangerous elements of society, like bartenders at trendy restaurants.

"We have a lot of antiquated liquor laws in Virginia that don't seem to have a lot of purpose in modern society," Delegate Adam Ebbin says. His bill to repeal a law making it illegal for restaurants to mix distilled spirits and wine was the subject of a hearing Thursday.

Shana McKillop, the managing partner of La Tasca, a Spanish tapas restaurant in Alexandria, Va., had never heard of the law until a state inspector cited her for selling traditional sangria made with red wine and brandy. The restaurant could be fined $2,500 and lose its liquor license. She's appealing.

These laws and regulations are just creating a level playing field for everyone.

Free the Hops, a specialty beer advocacy group in Alabama, announced a boycott of Anheuser-Busch (A-B) products in the city of Birmingham and Jefferson County Alabama.

The group’s president, Stuart Carter, says the boycott is their response to the anti-craft beer lobbying efforts of Birmingham Budweiser lead by the distributor’s vice president, Pat Lynch.

Alabama is one of only three states in the US that limit beer to 6% alcohol by volume. It is the only state that limits beer containers to a size of no more than 1 US pint (16 ounces). According to Carter, Lynch has been a major opponent of local and state legislation which would raise the limit to 14.9% in order to accomodate the growth in high alcohol craft beers. Industrial lagers from big brewers like A-B are reliably under 6% ABV.

No, the state is never wrong.