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WASHINGTON – A highly divided Supreme Court ruled Friday morning that the execution of a death row in Alabama could take place. The vote was 5 to 4.
Judge Stephen G. Breyer's anxious dissent, released around 3 am, said the majority rejected his request to delay enforcement, so judges could discuss the issue at their private conference scheduled for Friday morning. . It was a rare glimpse of secret deliberations.
The dispute between the judges lasted long enough for Alabama officials to quash the execution of inmate Christopher L. Price, scheduled for Thursday night. They said that a new date of execution will be fixed.
"Proceeding in this way challenges the fundamental principles of fairness that should underpin our criminal justice system," wrote Judge Breyer. "I think it is unfortunate to proceed in this case in the middle of the night without giving all members of the court the opportunity to discuss tomorrow morning."
The majority, in a brief unsigned opinion, said that Price had waited too long to say that Alabama's method of execution, a lethal injection of three chemicals, could put him in excruciating pain. Mr. Price has asked to be run with nitrogen, a method authorized by the law of Alabama.
Mr. Price and an accomplice were convicted of using a sword and dagger to kill William Lynn, a minister, at his home in Bazemore, Alabama in 1991, while he was preparing Christmas presents for his grandchildren. Pastor Bessie Lynn's wife was seriously injured in the attack but survived. Mr. Price admitted to participating in the couple's theft, but claimed that only his accomplice had injured them.
In June, Alabama gave 30 days to death row inmates to opt for hypoxia with nitrogen, which deprives the body of oxygen in the way that they would executed, which Mr. Price had not done. The majority said that it was the end of the case.
The lower courts ordered a stay of execution on Thursday, citing new evidence and jurisdictional issues. Around 9:00 pm Thursday, Alabama officials have asked the Supreme Court to lift the stay. It was agreed about six hours later.
The court has been deeply divided in recent weeks into a series of cases involving the death penalty, with conservative judges expressing their frustration at what they saw as excessive delays.
This decision followed a decision taken in February of 5 to 4 authorizing the execution of a Muslim detainee in Alabama after his request for the presence of his Imam was rejected, the majority of whom were arrested. 39, between them claiming that he should have asked earlier. In dissent, Judge Elena Kagan wrote that the majority was "profoundly wrong". In March, the court suspended the execution of a Buddhist detainee in Texas in similar circumstances, following two reported dissentions, the majority apparently being convinced that the application had been filed on time. .
In his seven-page dissent on Friday, Justice Breyer reviewed the proceedings in Mr. Price's case and said that an excessive haste had undermined justice. Judges Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor join his dissent in Dunn v. Price, No. 18A1053.
"If there is any doubt that a death sentence in the United States can be applied arbitrarily," said Judge Breyer, "let this person examine the following circumstances as they have been". presented to our court tonight. "
He stated that his colleagues had rejected his request to discuss the issue in person.
"I asked the court to take no action until tomorrow, when the issue could be discussed at the conference," he wrote, referring to a private meeting scheduled for Friday morning for the duration of the conference. its mandate. "I acknowledged that my application would delay the resolution of the application and that the state should obtain a new warrant of execution, thus delaying the execution of 30 days.
"But in my opinion, the delay was justified, at least in light of the facts as we know them now," wrote Judge Breyer.
Alabama officials have expressed outrage at the delay after the expiration of the death warrant
"Tonight, in the middle of National Victims of Crime Week, Pastor Bill Lynn's family has been denied justice," said Attorney General Steven T. Marshall. "They were in fact again victimized by a murderer who was trying to evade his just punishment."
Mr. Marshall complained that Mr. Price had "long ducked his death sentence for nearly three decades by employing about the same strategy that he followed tonight: s & ## He desperately clings to legal maneuvers to avoid the consequences of his heinous crime. sworn that "the day of justice will come" from Mr. Lynn
In his dissenting opinion, Judge Breyer wrote that a brief delay was necessary to allow the Supreme Court to discuss the case.
He asked important questions, whether Mr. Price had acted too slowly in the choice of gaseous nitrogen.
Judge Breyer wrote: "What is at stake in this case is the right of a detainee sentenced not to be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the eighth amendment."
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