High Court Decision Leaves Death Sentences Intact For 86 Arizona Inmates
Arizona Capitol Times staff
July 2, 2004 - The U.S. Supreme Court, in a decision that leaves intact the death sentences of 110 inmates, said June 24 a 2002 ruling that expanded the constitutional right to a jury trial doesn’t apply to pending federal appeals.
The court ruled 5-4 in an Arizona case (Summerlin v. Schriro) that death-row inmates who were pursuing federal appeals can’t benefit from the decision that juries, not judges, must make factual findings needed to impose death.
The Arizona inmate’s lawyer has said 86 prisoners in Arizona, 15 in Idaho, five in Nebraska and four in Montana would be affected by the case.
Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard commended the court on its decision.
“The Supreme Court spared the victims and their families from having to relive these cases in court,” Mr. Goddard said in a press release. “This decision closes this chapter in the death penalty arena —Ring provided new sentencing rules for courts to follow going forward. It does not affect the cases already decided.”
The decision handed down June 24 stems from an earlier case, Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), in which the Supreme Court struck down the provision of Arizona’s capital sentencing statute that permitted judges, rather than juries, to find aggravating circumstances. In the Summerlin case, the Attorney General’s Office challenged a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision holding that the Ring decision should apply retroactively to cases that have already completed the direct appeal stage.
Voting for the majority were Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, who wrote the opinion.
Justices John Paul Stevens, David Souter, Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissented.
Assistant Attorney General John Todd argued the case on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office. —
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