It's not a question of striking it down so much as it is a question of overruling their previous decision in Coker v. Georgia, which basically struck down the death penalty for anything other than murder. It doesn't look like there are five votes on the Court to do that.
"It's not a question of striking it down so much as it is a question of overruling their previous decision in Coker v. Georgia, which basically struck down the death penalty for anything other than murder. It doesn't look like there are five votes on the Court to do that."
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And guess who filed a filed a brief in that case urging reverasal: "Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Melvin L. Wulf, Marjorie Mazen Smith, and Nancy Stearns filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union et al. as amici curiae urging reversal."