The New York Court of Appeals today declined to overrule its high-handed, erroneous decision in People v. LaValle. That means that New York has no death penalty until the logjam in the Legislature can be broken. The vote was 4-3. One of the LaValle dissenters was in the majority today, declining to overrule LaValle, even though it is wrong, on the ground of stare decisis, i.e., respect for precedent. Today's decision also means that John B. Taylor gets off with an inadequate punishment for butchering five people in a Wendy's restaurant in 2000. Danny Hakim has this story in the NYT. A poll a few months ago found that New Yorkers favor the death penalty by more than two to one.