The Supreme Court’s Growing Hostility to Arguments of Death Row Inmates

The New York Times, November 15, 2021: The Supreme Court’s Growing Hostility to Arguments of Death Row Inmates

“Two weeks ago, on the same day it heard arguments about the future of abortion rights in Texas, the Supreme Court turned down an appeal from a federal prisoner facing execution.

The move was in one sense routine, as the court has grown increasingly hostile to arguments made by death row inmates. This became apparent in the final months of the Trump administration, when, after a hiatus of 17 years, the federal government executed 13 inmates.

“Throughout this expedited spree of executions, this court has consistently rejected inmates’ credible claims for relief,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent at the time.”

The New York Times, November 9, 2021: Supreme Court Weighs Condemned Man’s Wish for Pastor’s Touch

“A Texas death row inmate, John H. Ramirez, asked the justices to let spiritual advisers pray with and lay hands on prisoners as they await execution.

Some justices said the request was a modest one that respected the inmate’s right to exercise his faith in his final moments.

‘You should have a pastor to help guide you to the other place,’ Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

But other members of the court worried about their competence to supervise execution protocols, to judge the sincerity of inmates’ religious convictions, to prevent litigation gamesmanship and to handle what Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said could become ‘an unending stream’ of lawsuits requesting all sorts of religious accommodations.”

Additional reading:

The New York Times, November 9, 2021: Sister Helen Prejean: ‘Look at My Face,’ I Told a Man Before He Was Executed

The State, November 5, 2021: They executed people for the state of South Carolina. For some, it nearly destroyed them.