Free Republic

CONCORD — State officials on Wednesday identified the prisoner who died at the medium security state prison in Berlin following a fight as James Dale, who was convicted of the rape and murder of a 6-year-old girl in Hopkinton in 1997. Dale, 65, was involved in a “resident-on-resident” assault on Monday in the Northern New Hampshire Correctional Facility, according to a statement issued by Attorney General John Formella and Corrections Commissioner Helen Hanks. The statement said New Hampshire State Police and Attorney General’s Office prosecutors are investigating the circumstances of Dale’s death. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.

Julián Castro’s campaign will fire its staff in New Hampshire and South Carolina, an official familiar with the campaign told POLITICO. The campaign notified the state teams on Monday and their final day will be next week. The source said the campaign will continue focusing on Iowa and Nevada with a $50,000 television ad buy in Iowa beginning Tuesday morning. The moves amount to a long-shot attempt to remain in the presidential contest in the hopes of catching fire before the first contests begin next February.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most Hispanics say the immigration debate and Congress' failure to overhaul immigration laws has hurt them, and many fear deportation for themselves, a relative or close friend, a poll showed today. The survey, conducted by the nonpartisan Pew Hispanic Center, found that Hispanics in the United States are generally satisfied with their own lives and optimistic about the future. Yet many are wary of negative reactions prompted by heightened attention to illegal immigration in Congress and the presidential campaign trail, and they increasingly cite discrimination as a problem. Sixty-four percent said the immigration debate and Congress' failure...

Republican officials operating at the behest of the White House have begun seeking a possible successor to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, whose support among GOP lawmakers on Capitol Hill has collapsed, according to party sources familiar with the discussions.

San Francisco -- A California condemned prisoner who murdered, raped and tortured a girl 25 years ago moved a step closer to death when a federal appeals court dismissed on Sunday petitions seeking to block Tuesday's lethal injection. Barring a reprieve by the U.S. Supreme Court, where the case is to be appealed, Michael Morales, 46, is to become the 14th prisoner California has executed since voters reinstated capital punishment in 1978. It would be the third execution at San Quentin State Prison, located a few miles north of here, since the Dec. 13 injection of Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie...