U.S. Courts News Reporter
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Over a written dissent by two justices, the Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a death penalty case asking them to weigh in on when jury selection begins and the defendant has a right to be present. The order in Sandoval v. Texas came as part of a list of orders from the justices’ private conference last week. The justices did not add any new cases to their docket for the 2024-25 term.
The denial of review … Read the rest
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The Supreme Court on Friday morning appointed a former clerk to Chief Justice John Roberts to defend a ruling by an Oklahoma court leaving in place the conviction and death sentence of Richard Glossip – even after the state’s attorney general agreed that they should be set aside.
The justices agreed to hear Glossip’s case on Monday, after considering the case at 11 consecutive conferences since late September 2023. Glossip was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1997 … Read the rest
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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
Individuals held in state prison can challenge their convictions in federal court through a device known as a petition for a writ of habeas corpus. But under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, known as AEDPA, they generally only have one opportunity to do so. This week, … Read the rest
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The justices and retired justices of the Supreme Court have issued statements regarding the death of Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the court. O’Connor, who stepped down from the court in 2006, died on Friday in Phoenix, Arizona. She was 93 years old.
The post The justices’ statements regarding the death of retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor appeared first on SCOTUSblog.
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In a brief order with no recorded dissents, the Supreme Court refused to block the execution of Kenneth Eugene Smith, a 57-year-old inmate who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7 p.m. EST on Thursday in Alabama. Smith was convicted for the 1988 murder of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett, whom he was hired to kill by her husband, Rev. Charles Sennett.
By a vote of 11 to 1, the jury in Smith’s 1996 capital trial recommended that he … Read the rest
Greenwood County Jail is being accused of negligence after an inmate died in 2019.
Legal Reader… Read the rest