Capital Punishment: Summary of Supreme Court Decisions of the 2002-2003 Term (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
July 16, 2003 |
| Report Number |
RS21572 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Paul Starett Wallace, Jr., American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
In its 2001-2002 term, for the first time since 1988, the Supreme Court placed substantial new
restrictions on the powers to impose the death penalty. In Ring v. Arizona (1) , it overturned a death
sentence imposed by a judge, holding that defendants have a Sixth Amendment right to have a
jury--not a judge--determine whether aggravating factors warrant the imposition of the death penalty.
In Atkins v. Virginia , (2) it held that the execution of the
mentally retarded is cruel and unusual
punishment. In the 2002-2003 term, in Miller-El v. Cockrell the Court imposed an
additional
restriction when it decided that an African-American death row inmate should have been allowed
to appeal the rejection of his contention that the jury that convicted him was screened by prosecutors
in a racially biased way. In Wiggins v. Smith, it held that a capital defendant had been
denied
effective counsel. In Sattazahn v. Pennsylvania, the Court decided that there was no
double-jeopardy
bar to Pennsylvania's sentencing scheme providing for the death penalty on retrial. And in
Stanford
v. Kentucky , it denied a habeas corpus petition filed by Kevin Stanford which in
effect upheld the
execution of those who were 16 or 17 at the time of their crime (Kevin was 17 when he killed a gas
station attendant).
1. Â 536 U.S. 584 (2002).
2. Â 536 U.S. 304 (2002).
