Court bans shackling of murder defendants

AP - StL Today ^ | May 23, 2005 | Gina Holland

[EveningStar]

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court, brushing aside warnings by two justices that it was jeopardizing courthouse safety, ruled Monday it is unconstitutional to force capital murder defendants to appear before juries in chains and shackles.

Justices threw out the sentence of Carman Deck, who was shackled in leg irons and handcuffed to a chain around his belly when he faced a Missouri jury that put him on death row.

Carman Deck as he appeared at his double murder trial in Jefferson County in 1996.

[joesnuffy]

Black robed inmates running the asylum

imo

[visualops]

And the Supreme Court continues it's journey off planet Earth, last spotted approaching the Horsehead Nebula.

[redgolum]

And the guy that overpowered the guards, shot a few, and managed to get out of an Alanta court house is what? A fluke?

[EveningStar]

Only Scalia and Thomas dissented.

[Txsleuth]

Considering what happened in Atlanta a couple of months ago, this decision makes a lot of sense, oh, yeah!!!

[livius]

IIRC, there was just a case where a murder defendant - who had been released from his shackles and was in a cell - got a deputy's gun and killed a number of people. Anybody remember the details?

[dts32041]

I suppose a red laser dot on the chest is out, also?

[RightField]

Let me get this straight .... he was shackled at his SENTENCING? This means ... ummmmm ... the jury already found him guilty?

from the article: Justice Stephen Breyer, writing for the majority, said that shackling indicates to juries "that court authorities consider the offender a danger to the community."

"It also almost inevitably affects adversely the jury's perception of the character of the defendant," he wrote.

just d*mn. Seems like the jury already gave their perception of the defendant.

[inquest]

I think the sensors that gave you that report are malfunctioning. The overwhelming majority of reports say they're still firmly in orbit around the 7th planet of our solar system. Tight orbit, I might add.

[FormerACLUmember]

This technique was just tried in Atlanta, Georgia. The happy unshackled defendent shot the judge and other court officials dead.

[Air Conditioned Gypsy]

Considering what happened in Atlanta a couple of months ago

My frist thoughts also.

[redgolum]

The overwhelming majority of reports say they're still firmly in orbit around the 7th planet of our solar system. Tight orbit, I might add.

With their heads pointing planet side I take it?

[BenLurkin]

Sure . . . there's no danger there -- they figure the REAL threat is people who criticize them in the media.

[Zacs Mom]

Since the issue seems to be that seeing the defendant in chains and shackles makes him appear dangerous to jurors, how about we just wire the felons with 50 or so seperate taser receptors (discreetly hiding under their shirt, of course) and arm the bailiff and guards with remote trigger mechanisms.

[PBRSTREETGANG]

Can we put them in a big Lucite box instead then?

[pubmom]

Justice Stephen Breyer, extraordinary idiot.
Dear God, we're in trouble.

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

Was Rehnquist there? He agreed with this?

[Steve_Seattle]

Doesn't the fact that the defendant has been arrested and charged with a crime serve to prejudice the jury? The Supreme Court is being too clever by half.

[fatnotlazy]

"The decision left room for court personnel to handcuff or chain defendants, but only if they pose a special security risk."

***

Hate to tell the justices, but ALL of the defendants pose a special security risk.