* China and Iran lead the world in executions, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the death penalty. The U.S. comes in fifth worldwide. [AP]

* Gun control efforts build momentum at the state level. [New York Times]

* Some women return to the Texas polygamist ranch; judge seeks lawyers to represent children in upcoming custody battles. [CNN]

* Author J.K. Rowling holds her own while testifying before a crowd of Manhattan muggles. (Hopefully she won't sue us for using the word "muggle.") [WSJ Law Blog; WSJ Law Blog]

* Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a past Lawyer of the Day, remains in a bitter impasse with the Detroit city council. [New York Times]

* Supreme Court justices tap their former clerks to pick up "orphaned" arguments -- arguments in cases where "the respondent abandons the lower court decision that the petitioner is challenging." [Legal Times]

* Legal restrictions on gifts to universities can generate quirky results years later. [New York Times]

For some of Lawyers of the Day, things eventually get better. For others, however, they only get worse.

For Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his law-student lov-ah, Christine Beatty, they've gotten worse. From the AP:

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, a one-time rising star and Detroit's youngest elected leader, was charged Monday with perjury and other counts after sexually explicit text messages contradicted his sworn denials of an affair with a top aide.

Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy also charged the popular yet polarizing 37-year-old mayor with obstruction of justice and misconduct in office.

Former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty, 37, who also denied under oath that she and Kilpatrick had a romantic relationship in 2002 and 2003, was charged with perjury and obstruction of justice.

The evidence against Mayor Kilpatrick and Ms. Beatty is extensive. It's not just a handful of cryptic text messages that are equally consistent with innocent activity (e.g., "where r u"). Rather, we're talking about almost 14,000 texts, many of them sexually explicit. mr mayor, u r fckd. ttyl.

Or maybe not? Mayor Kilpatrick does have some top-flight counsel. He's represented by superstar litigator Dan Webb, a former U.S. Attorney for Chicago with over 100 jury trials under his belt, who now serves as chairman of Winston & Strawn. If anyone can get Kilpatrick out of this mess, it's Webb.

(But Webb can't work miracles. He was unsuccessful in defending another prominent politician, former Illinois Governor George Ryan, against various federal corruption charges. Governor Ryan was convicted at trial, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed on appeal.)

Detroit Mayor Charged With Perjury [AP]
Detroit Mayor Charged in Scandal [New York Times]

Earlier: Lawyer and Law Student of the Day: Kwame Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty

* Collected coverage of yesterday's Supreme Court oral argument in District of Columbia v. Heller, the Second Amendment case concerning D.C. gun control. [SCOTUSblog (linkwrap); How Appealing (linkwrap)]

* NJ prosecutors subpoena records from JuicyCampus.com (think AutoAdmit for college students). [AP]

* An update on former Lawyer of the Day Kwame Kilpatrick: the Detroit City Council wants him to resign as mayor, but he's vowing not to leave. [New York Times]

* Olympic gold-medal hottie who had "close personal relationship" with New York's latest Luv Guv, David Paterson, says he helped her land a government job. [New York Post via Drudge]

* The full transcript of yesterday's speech by Barack Obama on race. [Washington Post]

The great state of Michigan, recent host to presidential primaries, is also the home of our Lawyer of the Day. A correspondent writes:

The mayor of Detroit was sexing up his chief of staff, who just happened to be a Wayne State Law Student. The mayor happens to be married with three kids. They may have perjured themselves.

No, not the kids -- Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his lover. From the Detroit Free Press:

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his chief of staff lied about their relationship last summer at a police whistle-blower trial that has cost the cash-strapped city more than $9 million, according to records obtained by the Free Press.

The false testimony potentially exposes them to felony perjury charges, legal experts say.

Kilpatrick and chief of staff Christine Beatty denied during testimony in August that they had a sexual relationship. But the records, a series of text messages, show them engaged in romantic banter as well as planning and recounting sexual liaisons.

Dirty details, below the fold.