Kiyemba II Denied Review: At SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston reports that this morning the Supreme Court denied review of the D. C. Circuit Court's ruling in April in Kiyemba v.
Obama (09-581). The Court's order will leave intact a D. C. Circuit Court ruling that denied federal
judges any authority to order the transfer detainees out of Guantanamo Bay. Those following the Kiyemba case are probably not surprised by the Court's order. Earlier this month, the Court removed the case from its oral arguments calendar, and in February, the Court asked for additional briefing to address whether the case should
be dismissed. Now that the Supreme Court has denied review, Denniston reports that the Obama administration has petitioned the D. C. Circuit Court to re-instate its order that the Chinese Muslim Uighurs have no right to be transferred to live in the United States. In a new filing in Kiyemba v. Obama (08-5424, 08-1234) the administration opposed the Uighurs' plea that the case be sent back to a District
Court judge to assemble new facts on the current prospects of the
prisoners to leave Guantanamo for resettlement in another country. More information on today's orders from the Court can be found here. The orders list is available here.
Supreme Court to Hear Prosecutor Immunity Case: Tony Mauro reports on Blog of Legal Times that the U. S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Connick v. Thompson (09-571), to address whether imposing liability for failing to train a prosecutor on a district attorney's office for a single Brady violation contravenes culpability and causation standards. In May 1985, John Thompson was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for murder. The Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court's verdict that awarded accused murderer Thompson $14 million for the district attorney's failure to train its lawyers about so-called Brady violations, a failure that led to his wrongful conviction and death sentence in 1985.
Death Penalty Saves Costs Over LWOP: At Homicide Survivors, Dudley Sharp posts links to several studies comparing the cost of the death penalty with the cost of life without the possibility of parole. Sharp comments, "[t]here is no reason that the death penalty, in general, should be more expensive than LWOP and, in many, if not most cases, the death penalty should be less expensive."
An Op-Ed on Judge Fine: Yesterday, Doug Berman posted a link to Professor Adam Gershowitz's op-ed discussing Texas District Court Judge Fine's ruling that a portion of the Texas death penalty statute was unconstitutional. In Saturday's Houston Chronicle, Gershowitz wrote that "[b]y overstepping his powers, Fine gave death penalty advocates exactly what they were looking for: another example of a 'judicial activist' working to block the public's desire to enforce capital punishment." Gershowitz argues that "the death penalty is that it is terrible public policy that the voters of Texas should reject[,]" because it is racially and economically discriminatory, and is imposed on innocent people. (Information refuting each of these claims is available here and here.) He then argues that "in these economic times, death penalty critics should instead focus on how the death penalty is harmful to taxpaying, law-abiding citizens."
President Roosevelt and the Supreme Court: Also on SCOTUSblog, Erin Miller posts Part I of her two part interview with author Jeff Shesol, discussing Shesol's new book, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court. The book discusses President Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. Part II will be posted tomorrow.
Supreme Court to Hear Prosecutor Immunity Case: Tony Mauro reports on Blog of Legal Times that the U. S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Connick v. Thompson (09-571), to address whether imposing liability for failing to train a prosecutor on a district attorney's office for a single Brady violation contravenes culpability and causation standards. In May 1985, John Thompson was tried, convicted, and sentenced to death for murder. The Fifth Circuit upheld a lower court's verdict that awarded accused murderer Thompson $14 million for the district attorney's failure to train its lawyers about so-called Brady violations, a failure that led to his wrongful conviction and death sentence in 1985.
Death Penalty Saves Costs Over LWOP: At Homicide Survivors, Dudley Sharp posts links to several studies comparing the cost of the death penalty with the cost of life without the possibility of parole. Sharp comments, "[t]here is no reason that the death penalty, in general, should be more expensive than LWOP and, in many, if not most cases, the death penalty should be less expensive."
An Op-Ed on Judge Fine: Yesterday, Doug Berman posted a link to Professor Adam Gershowitz's op-ed discussing Texas District Court Judge Fine's ruling that a portion of the Texas death penalty statute was unconstitutional. In Saturday's Houston Chronicle, Gershowitz wrote that "[b]y overstepping his powers, Fine gave death penalty advocates exactly what they were looking for: another example of a 'judicial activist' working to block the public's desire to enforce capital punishment." Gershowitz argues that "the death penalty is that it is terrible public policy that the voters of Texas should reject[,]" because it is racially and economically discriminatory, and is imposed on innocent people. (Information refuting each of these claims is available here and here.) He then argues that "in these economic times, death penalty critics should instead focus on how the death penalty is harmful to taxpaying, law-abiding citizens."
President Roosevelt and the Supreme Court: Also on SCOTUSblog, Erin Miller posts Part I of her two part interview with author Jeff Shesol, discussing Shesol's new book, Supreme Power: Franklin Roosevelt vs. the Supreme Court. The book discusses President Roosevelt's plan to pack the Supreme Court in 1937. Part II will be posted tomorrow.
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