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US Supreme Court and the Death Penalty
« on: Jun 24th, 2002, 9:34pm » |
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The following article was taken from law.com (June 25, 2002 issue)
The U.S. Supreme Court declared the death penalty sentencing process in five states unconstitutional on Monday, ruling that juries, not judges, must determine the facts that result in a sentence of death rather than life in prison.
The dramatic 7-2 ruling in Ring v. Arizona affects the 168 prisoners on death row in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana and Nebraska, where under state law judges determine the aggravating factors that can result in a death sentence after a murder conviction. In addition, 529 prisoners in Alabama, Delaware, Florida and Indiana may also mount new appeals because juries in those states make advisory verdicts, but the judge can override or increase the sentence to death.
The Supreme Court announced Monday that it would wrap up its current term with one more sitting on Thursday. The justices have left for their final day before summer break some of the potentially biggest opinions of the year -- in cases involving the constitutionality of school vouchers, restrictions on what judges may say during judicial elections, and drug testing of a broad range of high school students.
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In Ring, decided Monday [June 24, 2002], experts on both sides of the death penalty debate cautioned that issues of retroactivity and harmless error review still lie ahead for inmates in these states, making it likely that not all their death sentences will be reversed.
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