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News
Supreme Court News Resources
Supreme Court News Archive from 1999-2000
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- No Jury Instruction Needed About Life Sentence Without Parole
Justice Kennedy, joined by The Chief Justice, Justice Scalia, and Justice Thomas, concluded that Ramdass was not entitled to a jury instruction on parole ineligibility under Virginia's three-strikes law. (6/12/00, LLI)
- State Prison Inmates Can Raise New Issues in Federal Courts
WASHINGTON -- State prison inmates whose federal court appeals are dismissed so they can pursue claims in state courts are allowed to raise new issues when they seek federal court help again, the Supreme Court said Wednesday. The 7-2 decision in a Nevada case dealt with arcane technicalities of "habeas corpus" proceedings. But it potentially could help hundreds of thousands of prisoners nationwide get federal court hearings into whether their state prosecutions violated some federally protected right. It was the court's fourth habeas-corpus ruling in eight days. The four alternately expanded and contracted federal court access for state prisoners in differing circumstances. Kennedy said that even though the restrictive 1996 federal law -- the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act -- applied to Slack's case, his newest federal appeal was not illegal. (4/27/00, The Daily Camera)
- Court Access Limited When Lawyers Are Inadequate
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court today limited federal court access for state prisoners who say their lawyers gave them constitutionally inadequate help. Ruling 7-2 in an Ohio murder case, the justices said ineffective-assistance claims that were filed too late in state court generally cannot be used in federal court to excuse an inmate's default of other claims. ...Today's ruling continues the court's trend, begun in the 1980s, of making it more difficult for criminal defendants convicted in state courts to go into federal courts and argue that their rights were violated. ..."Why should a prisoner ... lose his basic claim because he runs afoul of state procedural rules governing the presentation to state courts of the 'cause' for his not having followed state procedural rules?" said Breyer. ... The case is Edwards v. Carpenter, 98-2060. (4/25/00, CNN)
- Supreme Court Rules on Death Row Reviews
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court made it harder Tuesday for federal judges to overturn tainted convictions and sentences in state courts, in a decision that potentially affects more than 3,600 death row inmates and hundreds of thousands of other prisoners nationwide. The justices, struggling to clarify their own past rulings and a 1996 law enacted by Congress, left in doubt their ultimate intent. ... For centuries, people convicted in state courts have had the right to appeal to federal courts, contending in proceedings known as "habeas corpus" that their prosecution violated some federally protected right. ... In a separate decision involving a different Virginia death row inmate, the court, in a unanimous decision written by Kennedy, made it somewhat easier for state prisoners to raise issues in federal court that they did not pursue in earlier state court appeals. (4/19/00, The Daily Camera)
- Supreme Court: Challenge to Electric Chair Rejected
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal that called death in Alabama's electric chair a type of "cruel and unusual punishment" the Constitution forbids. The justices, by a 5-4 vote, turned away Alabama death row inmate Robert Lee Tarver's contention that his state's "antiquated'" electric chair exposes him to a risk of "excessive burning, disfigurement and ... pain and suffering." (2/22/00, Associated Press)
- Supreme Court Could Turn off Florida's 'Old Sparky'
Ghoulish images of executions in Florida's electric chair have led the nation's high court to consider whether the state's method of execution is cruel and unusual punishment. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in February. (11/12/99)
- Supreme Court's Refusal to Consider the International Ban on the Death Penalty Against Children
The Supreme Court has missed a golden opportunity to bring the USA into line with the rest of the world on this fundamental human rights issue. (11/1/99)
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