Posted on 02/02/2006 1:54:21 AM PST by Bullitt
New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito split with the court's conservatives Wednesday night, refusing to let Missouri execute a death-row inmate contesting lethal injection.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
I read somewhere else the decision was UNANIMOUS.
I read that he voted opposite Thomas and Scalia, but that means nothing until the full context of the case is known.
There were several motions in this case yesterday, as is typical of last-minute death-row appeals, and quite obviously the decision referred to by the article was not unanimous.
This sucks.
You've gone off half-cocked, pal.
I have?? Where? What do you mean?
Maybe Scalia hasn't had his father/son talk with Alito yet?
It is possible to believe in the death penalty, as I do, and also see that the state does not get it wrong. It would take few cases of wrongful death to completely turn the public against the death penalty, thus depriving society the protection derived from it.
Umm.. That was one of several appeals filed yesterday, and it was not the appeal in which Alito split with Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas. The 6-3 split decision involved a last minute appeal challenging lethal injection as "cruel and unusual" - the same as in the two Florida executions that were stayed this week.
Give the guy a break! I don't fault Alito for wanting to make sure that absolutely everything is examined with a fine tooth comb and done properly in a death penalty case. He is a though, detailed oriented jurist. This does not make him a flaming liberal.
PS. And it's worth mentioning that if the Supreme Court is about to begin staying all executions while the lethal injection challenge is pending, there aren't gonna be any executions for a while..
The court's split vote Wednesday night ended a frenzied day of filings. Missouri twice asked the justices to intervene and permit the execution, while Taylor's lawyers filed two more appeals seeking delays.
The story noted that, absent O'Connor and Alito, the Court had voted to reject an appeal by the same party on grounds that Missouri's justice system is "racist" (the convict is black, the girl he and his accomplice murdered was white -- but that wasn't "racist").
His alternative ground for appeal was a claim that lethal injections are unconstitutionally "cruel and unusual". I.e. "you can't do me like I did her!"
<speculation>
Maybe Alito wanted to crack his knuckles and flex a bit on the subject of the death penalty, giving this guy a hearing so that Alito and the conservatives could tell him in a clear voice exactly why he's toast and going to hell.
</spec>
15 years have gone by for this raping murderer. Long enough for punishment for what he did.
well?
This is the second time his counsel has run this case up to the USSC, the first time around, it was rejected because the counsel argued on the basis of the entire judicial process being tilted against blacks.
I think it had more to do with the fact that this was the exact same basis for appeal as that granted twice this week in Florida. It would hardly seem just if they grant a stay of execution twice and then deny a stay of execution for the same reason, especially if in the end the challenge is decided in favor of the Florida inmates.
What I don't quite get, though, is how any executions by lethal injection can now go forward until this is decided, since every one of them can be appealed on the exact same basis.
A more likely speculation is that Alito's mixed record on death penalty cases in the lower courts was not a fluke.
Yep. That's where I've drawn my conclusion.
I am not saying this is the case, by any stretch, but it would be ironic if Roberts turns out to be a staunch conservative and Alito turns out to be a wishy-washy moderate.
I won't base my opinion of Alito on one single case, but the fact he's had a mixed record on death penalties in the 3rd Circuit is inescapable.
So, what's his tendency?
He certainly isn't going to rule against the death penalty wall-to-wall on the grounds appealed by the murderer's counsel. He'd have to be a doctrinaire liberal who gets his guidance from French newspapers: spare the murderers, euthanize the innocent elderly and incubating young.
But, I can't help notice that this repugnant killer scum's counsel decided to ram this through on Alito's first day. This story it seems to me was designed to set conservative's hair on fire over Alito. I guess it worked.
Alito may have voted this way, just to make a point to the left that he isn't a "racist." Or it could be that he didn't feel he could get up to speed on the case that quick, so his vote was on the side of caution. Let't wait and see how he votes on the actual case. This was just an vote to hear the case.
"An appeals court will now review Taylor's claim that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment, a claim also used by two Florida death-row inmates that won stays from the Supreme Court over the past week. The court has agreed to use one of the cases to clarify how inmates may bring last-minute challenges to the way they will be put to death."
One of these will be used to settle the question before the SC eventually.
Governor Bush was speaking about the just yesterday here in Florida. He was angry about the issue being swept off the table by Anti-Justice activists without placing the issue before the voters. Good approach IMHO. People are sick of liberals attempting to circumvent the will of the people.
But yeah, on hold for a while as justice waits...
(groan) What is it with these "rock-solid" conservative judges?? Kennedy, Kerry, Biden and Leahy must be celebrating and feeling foolish over their attempts at smearing Alito. Sandra Day O'Conner didn't retire, she just put on a pair of pants and cut her hair.
This is NOT an auspicious beginning to Alito's career on the Supreme Court. In the future, we should demand a 90 day probation period for future federal judge appointees and a term limit of 10 years, renewable up to 3 times.
If Taylor and others claim that lethal injection is cruel and unusual, maybe they would prefer the electric chair, hanging, or a firing squad.
I agree. If Alito thinks that lethal injection might be "cruel and unusual" then he likely is against the death penalty period. This doesn't bode well for law and order.
The most important line from the article
"Alito, handling his first case, sided with inmate Michael Taylor, who had won a stay from an appeals court earlier in the evening."
I think voting to uphold the appeals court's stay on his first day on the job is being cautious not liberal. He needs to get his clerks and himself up to speed. Additionally, he is invoking stare decis which in this case the court has within the last week blocked executions on similar grounds pending disposition.
Hopefully, the delay in these cases will allow the conservatives to speed up future executions and put the smack down on these challenges.
there are 2 deah row in florida that have been stayed by SCOTUS in the last week or so. Why would you let one in another state die if it's for a very similar reason (leathal injection cruel and unusual here).
Personally i don't think it's cruel and unusual, and i doubt the scotus does in the end.....
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
First thing Alito does is side with the liberals. How many days has he been a member of the Supreme Court now? One? That didn't take long, now did it?
Have we been snookered again, like with Sandra Day O'Conner?
BINGO! That was my first thought as well. He just got there- hardly had time to have his robes fitted.
I'm disappointed when I see FReepers jump to conclusions- kinda like knee-jerk liberals.
Huh? Missouri was seeking to execute the guy at midnight. I think his counsel would've been a little remiss if they'd waited a day.
I hope that's the case. I do agree that it's too early to make an evaluation.
(Although I must admit it gave me pause to see him against Roberts, Scalia and Thomas right out of the box.)
That's what you call a pathetic, first-at-bat. Lets hope it's just opening-day jitters.
see my post 35 above.....
i won't be back, you guys go ahead and be idiots......
IF SCOTUS GAVE STAYS TO 2 GUYS IN FLORIDA LAST WEEK, WELL IT WOULD BE STUPID OF THEM NOT TO GIVE ONE TO THIS DUDE. I DON'T BELIEVE LEATHAL BE RULED CRUEL AND UNUSUAL, BUT THAT'S THE AMERICAN PROCESS, LIKE IT OR NOT.
of course this means alito is just like gingsberg/sc
Does anyone here really believe that there is a serious Constitutional question as to whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment? As opposed to hanging, or the firing squad, or anything else routinely used when the Constitution was drafted?
The guy pleaded guilty, for God's sake. A good conservative judge would not meddle in state criminal affairs on these facts. This is definitely evidence, albeit not conclusive, that Bush HAS screwed conservatives again.
Just as I won't lament this development, so should the libs NOT celebrate it. One case does not make a 30 year legacy.
In the case of "cruel and unusual", it is not hard to see why this is important. Once this is decided, presumably in the "not cruel and unusual" direction, then EVERY state that has a death penalty will be free to use it when their preferred method (hanging, firing squad, etc.) is challenged. I see it as a way to streamline things ultimately, but I admit I am a bit "closer to the fence" on the question of the death penalty than many.
There is no more humane way to be put to death than lethal injection. Alito should know that by now.
Sandra Day O'Conner was supposed to be a conservative too. Remember what she turned out to be?
I would call that a stellar record, not a mixed record. Alito makes sure the case was ruled correctly and the defendant given all reasonable appeals before allowing the killer to be put to death. Alito does not interfere in the process unless there is a problem.
I agree it was unsettling to hear this on tv news. Who would have thought that he wouldn't side with Roberts, Scalia, and Thomas on his first decision?
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