NCJ Number
145952
Journal
San Diego Justice Journal Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: (Winter 1993) Pages: 193-206
Date Published
1993
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This article traces the evolution of the U.S. Supreme Court's rulings on the death penalty.
Abstract
From 1976 to the present, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued over 100 rulings on whether States' death penalty statutes are constitutional. In all instances, the Court has granted or denied certiorari only after the defendant has filed a writ of habeus corpus in hopes of receiving a stay of execution. This shows two particulars with which the Court seems to contend regularly; first, by waiting in most cases until the "last minute" before granting review, the Court is apparently reluctant to step into State matters regarding individual death penalty statutes. Second, the denial of certiorari in an eighth amendment question that involves the death penalty is just as telling by itself. In recent years, when issues about the constitutionality of a State's statute has come before the Court, the justices have been asked to interpret factors regarding individual defendants rather than the language of the statute. So long as the constitutional safeguards of the death penalty are protected by mention at the trial level of mitigating and aggravating circumstances, the Court may properly deny a petitioner's writ submitted on the bases of factual determinations. Given the current composition of the U.S. Supreme Court, this approach to the Court's assessment of the administration of State death penalty statutes is likely to continue. For the foreseeable future, individual States will decide whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment. 51 footnotes