Unusual Action by the Supreme Court Regarding the Death Penalty

• The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a surprising death penalty decision.
• The 5-4 decision was notable for its interesting mix of justices.
• Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor voted with the court’s liberals.

Unusual Action by the Supreme Court Regarding the Death Penalty; which causes the traditional ideological alignments; to become disorganised. We need to look carefully to understand why the court’s decision to uphold the death sentence; defied expectations last week when it did what was largely anticipated on abortion. At first glance, the decision in Nance v. Ward appears to be very technical. The court granted a Georgia inmate’s request to be killed; by firing squad in lieu of lethal injection because he was afraid of the agony; the court’s decision was based more on how inmates can appeal; their executions than anything else.

However, as Fordham law professor Deborah Denno explained to LAW360; the court’s decision preserves a limited legal option for contesting; execution procedures and offers death row inmates who desire; to challenge what is going to happen to them some extremely unusual “breathing room.”

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The majority of five justices—Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Chief Justice John Roberts; joined Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor in the 5-4 ruling. It draws attention to the difficulties that the court’s liberals face; on a conservative-dominated bench and provides a crystal-clear illustration; of how they are playing defence.

One method for liberal justices to work with some of their conservative colleagues; at least in relatively low profile cases; is by voting to uphold precedents that they strongly disagree with; as they did in Nance.

Naturally, these precedent-based arguments did not succeed in the gun; or abortion rulings from last week; which implies that the conservative activist justices will disregard or disregard; precedent when it serves their political objectives. However, such arguments might provide Roberts and Kavanaugh; who frequently join the chief judge in casting their votes; with justification for deviating from their regular allies.

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