CORRECTION AND UPDATE – AT 8:00 A.M. ET:  Yesterday we reported on legal questions regarding Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her seat in Congress.

It turned out that the article we quoted contained an error.  We said that, under Arizona law, Congresswoman Giffords's seat in the House can be declared vacant if she cannot perform her duties for 90 days.  A subsequent article pointed out that this only applies to state and local officeholders.  Only the House of Representatives can declare a seat vacant...and that ain't gonna happen in the Giffords case. 

UPDATE:  Regarding the shooting yesterday at a Los Angeles high school, there seems to be some tentative acceptance by authorities that it was, somehow, an accident, although I still hope that claim is challenged and investigated.  What wasn't an accident was the student's bringing a pistol to school.  Apparently, screening of packages and backpacks at the school is haphazard.  The gun will probably be blamed.  It's a complicated story, as the L.A. Times notes:

Friends of the suspect said he was not known as a violent boy, but had brought the gun to school for his own protection.

"I think he was just scared," classmate Para Ross said, "Scared of what was going to happen when he left school and took the bus home. There are a lot of gangs around here. People are dying."

What a tragedy.  But race is involved, so authorities are treading carefully.  As I said, the gun will probably be blamed.

One of the wounded students was shot in the head and is critical.  The other student's wound, a neck wound, is not considered life-threatening.

January 19, 2011