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- Supreme
Court Rejects Lethal Injection Challenge
The
Supreme Court has upheld the three-drug
lethal injection method used by the state
of Kentucky in a 7-2 decision, clearing
the way for an unofficial moratorium
on executions to be lifted. "Some
risk of pain is inherent in any method
of execution no matter how humane - if
only from the prospect of error in following
the required procedure," Chief Justice
John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion. "It
is clear, then, that the Constitution
does not demand the avoidance of all
risk of pain in carrying out executions." ...
As for what's next, Richard Dieter, who
runs the Death Penalty Information Center,
a group opposed to the capital punishment,
said he believes that "quite
a few [execution] dates will be set -
testing whether their states meets the
same standard that the court found acceptable
in Kentucky." (4/16/08, ABC News.com)
- High Court Justice Wants End to Executions
Justice John Paul Stevens, the Supreme Court's
most senior member, took aim at the entire
system of capital punishment Wednesday,
writing in an opinion that it was a "pointless
and needless extinction of life with only
marginal contributions to any discernible
social or public purposes."... In essence,
Stevens has sent a signal that, while he
recognizes the court has, in the past, found
the death penalty to be constitutional, he
thinks it's now time for state legislatures,
Congress and the courts to reconsider. (4/16/08,
ABC News.com)
- High Court Split Over Execution of Child
Rapists
The Supreme Court focused Wednesday
on whether "evolving standards of
decency" in
the United States forbid a resumption of
capital punishment for any felony but murder.
But the justices offered no clear indication
of how they will rule in the case of a
man who is on Louisiana death row for raping
a child. (4/16/08, CNN.com)
- Supreme Court Overrules Bush, OKs Texas
Execution
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court
has concluded Texas can execute a Mexican
man sentenced to death for murder, ending
an unusual capital appeal that pitted President
Bush against his home state in a dispute
over federal authority, local sovereignty
and foreign treaties. The 6-3 vote Tuesday
means the pending execution of Jose Ernesto
Medellin can proceed. He faces lethal injection
for two brutal slayings. ... The Mexican
government filed an appeal against the
United States with the International Court
of Justice in January 2003, alleging violations
of international law. Medellin filed his
own federal and state appeals based on
similar complaints as well as a claim of
ineffective counsel. Medellin has the support
of the European Union and several international
human rights groups. The ICJ ruled in 2004
the United States had violated the rights
of the Mexican prisoners, in part because
officials and prosecutors failed to notify
their home countries, which could have
provided legal and other assistance. (3/25/08,
CNN.com)
- Court Divided Over Lethal Injection Case
Supreme Court justices indicated Monday
they are deeply divided over a challenge
to the way most states execute prisoners
by lethal injection, which critics say
creates an avoidable risk of excruciating
pain. With executions in the United States
halted since late September, the court
heard arguments in a case from Kentucky
that calls into question the mix of three
drugs used in most executions. Justice
Antonin Scalia was among several conservatives
on the court who suggested he would uphold
Kentucky's method of execution and allow
capital punishment to resume. (1/7/08,
ABC News)
- Lethal Injection Goes Before Supreme
Court
Death-row inmates are asking the Supreme
Court to order states to use different drugs
or tighten their procedures to reduce the
risk that prisoners will suffer excruciating
pain during their executions. The justices
are hearing arguments Monday morning in a
case that challenges Kentucky's method of
executing prisoners using a three-drug cocktail.
Three dozen states use similar procedures.
The court's decision to step into the case
has brought about a halt in executions that
is likely to last at least until the summer.
(1/7/08, CNN.com)
- Supreme
Court to Hear Child Rapist Case
Patrick Kennedy's legal team wants the
court to declare Louisiana's law allowing
the death penalty for child rape unconstitutional.
Only two people in the United States are
on death row for nonhomicide offenses,
and both are in that state. Some unusual
allies have filed briefs supporting Kennedy's
case: victims' rights organizations. The
groups contend that supporting a death
penalty law in such cases could carry terrible
consequences, such as encouraging rapists
to kill their victims. (1/4/08, ABC News)
- Supreme
Court to Address Discriminatory Jury
Selection
On Tuesday, December 4, the U.S. Supreme
Court will hear arguments in Snyder v.
Louisiana, a case involving a black defendant
sentenced to death by an all-white jury
after the prosecution used its peremptory
strikes to exclude all of the qualified
black jurors. During Allen Snyder’s
1996 trial for the murder of a man his
estranged wife was dating, prosecutor James
Williams of Jefferson Parish urged the
all-white jury to sentence the defendant
to death so that Snyder would not "get
away with it" like O.J. Simpson. Simpson
was acquitted of a highly publicized double
homicide less than a year before. The defense
challenged the selection of the jury as
a violation of equal protection, but Snyder's
conviction was upheld by the Louisiana
Supreme Court. (12/3/07, DPIC Update)
- U.S.
Supreme Court to Hear Ineffective Counsel
Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear
a case in which it will decide how appellate
courts are to evaluate claims of ineffective
counsel in plea negotiations.
The case, Arave v. Hoffman (07-110), is
the latest effort by the Justices to
decide whether mistakes made by a defense
lawyer warrant overturning a criminal's
conviction or sentence. (11/12/07, DPIC Update)
- Presidential
Powers at Issue in Supreme Court Arguments
On October 10, the U.S. Supreme Court will
hear arguments in Medellin v. Texas, a
case that will determine whether President
Bush overstepped his authority by ordering
state courts to comply with a 2004 International
Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling. ... The ICJ's
2004 ruling called on U.S. courts to review
the cases in light of this treaty violation,
but Texas refused to review Medellin's case
and he petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court
for relief. (10/15/07, DPIC Update)
- Supreme
Court to Decide on Lethal Injection
The
Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to delve
into a divisive controversy over capital
punishment - whether lethal injection
causes excruciating pain and violates
the Constitution's ban on "cruel
and unusual punishment." The justices
have never directly addressed the fundamental
question over the use of the chemical "cocktail" of
drugs used to execute convicted killers.
... Kentucky inmates Ralph Baze and Clyde
Bowling Jr. brought suit in federal court
three years ago, questioning the state's
chemical mixture and the procedures used
to administer it. ... The Supreme Court
has not ruled directly on the "cruel
and unusual" aspect
of lethal injection, but did conclude
last year that prisoners can make last-ditch
legal challenges to the method of execution,
using claims that they would suffer a
painful death. Arguments in the Baze
case will be held early next year, with
a ruling by late June. (9/25/07, CNN.com)
- High
Court Blocks Mentally-ill Killer's Execution
In
another 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court
blocked the execution of a Texas double
murderer whose attorneys argue he is so
mentally ill he doesn't understand his
punishment. The court did not rule on the
larger issue of whether the mentally ill
should be executed. Instead, the decision
rested on whether he received a full hearing
on the matter in the lower courts. ...
The Supreme Court in 2003 outlawed capital
punishment for the mentally retarded but
never established a clear standard over
defendants claiming some form of mental
illness. States were left to establish
such guidelines within the broader context
of the high court's ruling. The justices
have split 5-4 on the seven other capital
cases this term in which definitive rulings
were issued. (6/28/07, CNN.com)
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