David Elliot at Abolish the Death Penalty reports on a Texas-Sized Smackdown of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 7-2 vote for "summary reversal," the Supremes outright reversed one death sentence and sent another back to the Fifth Circuit, all without even hearing arguments.
Translated roughly, the Supreme Court's message to the CCA was, "No, really, we mean it. Stop executing retarded people."
Another disgraceful embarassment for Texas' worst court.
This summary reversal, reversal without oral argument, highlights once again Texas' problem of entrusting the administration of justice and interpretation of our laws to politically elected judges that are scarcely known by most voters.
ReplyDeleteJeb
The Republican elected officials in this state bank on the ignorance of the general public in Texas. If every poor and minority family made it their priority to be informed and vote, the face of our criminal justice system would be quite different.
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