The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed the Sixth Circuit in White v. Woodall, reinstating the death sentence of Robert Woodall for the murder of 16-year-old Sarah Hansen in Kentucky. The vote was 6-3, opinion by Justice Scalia. We will have more later.
The Court also decided the child porn restitution case, Paroline v. United States, admitting its "approach is not without difficulties." Yep.
The Court also decided the child porn restitution case, Paroline v. United States, admitting its "approach is not without difficulties." Yep.
Great job in convincing the entire Court to reject the so-called unreasonable-refusal-to-extend doctrine! I also like the citation on page 11!
Perhaps in a later post you can provide some examples of how the Court's repudiation of this doctrine will have real consequences in future cases. It is one thing for the Court to reject the doctrine. But it is another to establish that the repudiation really makes a difference.
Commenter paul, above, makes reference to the following portion of the majority opinion:
"Section 2254(d)(1) provides a remedy for instances in which a state court unreasonably applies this Court’s precedent; it does not require state courts to extend that precedent or license federal courts to treat the failure to do so as error. See Scheidegger, Habeas Corpus, Relitigation, and the Legislative Power, 98 Colum. L. Rev. 888, 949 (1998)."
It is the Holy Grail of legal scholarship to be cited by the Supreme Court, and all the more so when you're cited for what is certain to be the key holding of the case going forward.
One of the reasons it's an honor to be a guest blogger here is that I get to work with someone of Kent's legal acumen. As I have said before, and as today's opinion helps illustrate, Kent is at the top of the profession.