The story of Muzzammil Hassan — "The founder of an upstate New York TV station aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has been arrested on suspicion of killing his wife, who was beheaded, authorities said" — reminded a correspondent of the Italian-American Anti-Defamation League, which was founded by mafioso Joseph Colombo Sr.

And, yes, of course the great bulk of Italian-Americans consists of perfectly decent law-abiding citizens, as does the great bulk of American Muslims. It would just be nice if the heads of the groups didn't exemplify the very stereotypes the groups were aimed at fighting. (I should note that Hassan has of course not yet been convicted, though to my untutored eye things look bad.)

After all, a lawyer friend of mine argues, a beheading suggests at least some amount of premeditation and deliberation, which is what our criminal law course taught is required for first-degree murder.

The answer is that the first-/second-degree murder line varies a great deal from state to state. Some allow a first-degree murder conviction based on evidence of even a few seconds' worth of premeditation and deliberation. Some require evidence of some time during which the person was calm -- as opposed to in a rage -- and premeditated and deliberated calmly. And some have a detailed list of circumstances that can justify a first-degree murder charge (especially if they use the first-/second-degree murder distinction to distinguish between generally death-penalty-eligible murders and other murders).

New York fits in the last category: New York Penal Law § 125.27 lists thirteen circumstances under which a murder can be charged as a first-degree murder, and it seems likely that none of these circumstances applies here.