Tag Archive for: U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS)

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Florida Supreme Court Reverses Itself on Death Penalty Restriction from 2016

Saying it made a “clear error” in 2016, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped a decision that gave some Death Row inmates another chance to argue that they should be shielded from execution because they have intellectual disabilities. The…
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Supreme Court Won’t Hear the Case of Brendan Dassey, Sentenced to Life as a Teen and Featured in ‘Making a Murderer’ – The Washington Post

The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a plea to intervene in the case of Brendan Dassey, whose confession to rape and murder as a teenager was portrayed as coerced in the popular Netflix documentary “Making a Murderer.” Read more.
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Justice Sotomayor Criticizes Supreme Court For Failing to Intervene in Texas Death-Row Prisoner’s Case – The Death Penalty Information Center

Over a strong dissent by Justice Sonia Sotomayor (pictured), the United States Supreme Court on June 4 declined to review the case of Texas condemned prisoner Carlos Trevino, who had argued that his lawyer was ineffective for failing to investigate…
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McCoy v. Louisiana: New Challenges for Defenders, New Risks for the Mentally Ill – The George Washington Law Review

In Florida v. Nixon, Justice Ginsburg wrote for a unanimous Supreme Court that a defense lawyer who conceded his client’s guilt as a strategic tactic was not ineffective because the defendant had remained “unresponsive” to his lawyer’s…
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Sex Crimes and Criminal Justice: Formerly Incarcerated Sex Offenders Say Civil Commitment Programs Deny Proper Rehabilitation – The Washington Spectator

In this article, journalist Barbara Koeppel reports on the problems with sex-offender treatment programs. Read more.
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Supreme Court to Review Questions About Competency to Be Executed – Equal Justice Initiative

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to review the case of Vernon Madison, on whether he is competent to be executed due to his lack of rational understanding of the crime for which he was convicted. Read more.
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Amicus: The Myth of the Neutral Expert – Slate

In this episode of Slate's Amicus,  Stephen Bright of the Southern Center for Human Rights discusses the U.S. Supreme Court's pending decision in McWilliams v. Dunn regarding whether an indigent defendant whose mental health was a significant…
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What Kind of Help Does the Constitution Require for Defendants in Capital Cases? – SCOTUS Blog

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court will revisit  Ake v. Oklahoma, in which the Court held that a psychiatrist must be appointed to an indigent defendant who demonstrates that his or her mental health is likely to play a significant role at…
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A Victory for the Eighth Amendment – The Atlantic

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Moore v. Texas. In a 5-3 decision, the Court ruled in favor of Bobby James Moore, a death row inmate who challenged Texas' method for determining intellectual disability. The Court ruled…