Posts Tagged ‘supreme court’
High Court Stays Execution Where Judge Overrode Jury Recommendation
A little over two years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court in Hurst v. Florida ruled 8-1 it was unconstitutional for state judges to overrule jury sentencing recommendations in death penalty cases. The high court ruled a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury was violated if the jury was not permitted to…
Read MoreHigh Court Will Hear Inmate’s Challenge to Lawyer’s Admission of His Guilt
During its new term started in October, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case of McCoy v. Louisiana, which asks whether a Death Row inmate can appeal a death sentence because his lawyer, over the inmate’s strenuous objections, admitted his client’s guilt during his trial. Robert McCoy was charged with murdering the mother,…
Read MoreHigh Court Tosses Appeal Court’s Try to Save Inmate Tort Claim
By Christopher Zoukis Two Maryland state corrections officers were escorting Shaidon Blake as he was being transferred to a new cell in the west Baltimore prison where he is serving time for murder. Known as “Papa Don,” Blake was an enforcer for the California Bloods who had been sent to Baltimore to impose discipline on…
Read MoreSupreme Court Accepts Two New Texas Death Penalty Challenges
By Christopher Zoukis Although challenges to the death penalty have not fared all that well at the Supreme Court in recent years, its new term starting in October will contain at least two more cases brought by Death Row inmates. On June 6, the high court agreed to take up two separate appeals brought…
Read MoreExcluding Black Jurors Voids Long-Ago Murder Conviction
In a landmark 7-1 decision earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court voided a nearly 30-year-old murder conviction of a black inmate in Georgia due to prosecutors’ efforts to keep black jurors from hearing the case. Timothy Tyrone Foster, an 18-year-old youth with mental disabilities (which would eventually lead a state court to find his…
Read MoreRedistricting Can Count Prisoners and Other Non-Voters, High Court Rules
By Christopher Zoukis Rejecting a lawsuit filed by conservatives trying to rewrite the longstanding “one man, one vote” rule for drawing the lines for political districts, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled it is acceptable for states not to count just eligible voters, but to instead use the number of total residents. As a result,…
Read MoreProsecutor’s Non-Disclosure Leads to High Court Reversal of Death-Row Prisoner’s Conviction
By Christopher Zoukis The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down a per curiam (“by the court”) order reversing the murder conviction 14 years earlier of a Louisiana death-row inmate. In the fairly unusual per curiam procedure, the Justices decided the case based only on briefs filed by both sides on whether the case should be…
Read MoreChanging tides on mandatory life sentences for juveniles
Important changes may be ahead for juvenile offenders convicted of murder in the state of Iowa. The Iowa Supreme Court will decide whether sentences of life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for juvenile offenders falls under the category of cruel and unusual punishment under the state’s constitution, thus prohibiting such practices. The case…
Read MoreWhen is sexual abuse not sexual abuse? When it happens to a prisoner.
This past week saw the handing down of an important ruling in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the rights of prisoners; specifically a prisoner’s right not to be sexually abused by prison officials. If you’re questioning how this could even have been a question before the Supreme Court, don’t worry, you’re not alone.…
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