Thursday's hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the confirmation of two federal court nominees from Iowa took a detour from the perfunctory niceties to a discussion of criminal sentencing and judicial independence. The subject was raised by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, there to introduce U.S. District Judge Michael Melloy of Cedar Rapids, President Bush's nominee to the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, and West Des Moines lawyer James Gritzner, appointed... (GunPolicy.org)