Capital Punishment
Smith v. California 18-7094
Whether the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to prevent courts from allowing prosecutors to use prospective jurors’ opinions about the O.J. Simpson trial or other potential racial proxies as “race-neutral” explanations for striking black jurors without further inquiry.
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All Cases
58 Capital Punishment Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2019
Capital Punishment
Bucklew v. Precythe, 17-8151
Whether the execution of Russell Bucklew by lethal injection would violate the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment because he suffers from a rare medical condition that would cause him to choke on his own blood and suffocate for four minutes before dying.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2019
Capital Punishment
Bucklew v. Precythe, 17-8151
Whether the execution of Russell Bucklew by lethal injection would violate the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment because he suffers from a rare medical condition that would cause him to choke on his own blood and suffocate for four minutes before dying.
U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2017
Capital Punishment
Ayestas v. Davis
What showing does a federal habeas petitioner needs to make to obtain funding to develop evidence?
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U.S. Supreme Court
Oct 2017
Capital Punishment
Ayestas v. Davis
What showing does a federal habeas petitioner needs to make to obtain funding to develop evidence?
North Carolina
May 2017
Capital Punishment
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
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North Carolina
May 2017
Capital Punishment
+2 Issues
North Carolina v. Robinson
A North Carolina judge found intentional and systemic discrimination by state prosecutors against African-American potential jurors in capital cases and commuted the sentence of death-row prisoner Marcus Robinson to life in prison without the possibility of parole in April 2012. The decision is currently under appeal.
Arkansas
Apr 2017
Capital Punishment
Lee v. Kelly
Ledell Lee has filed a motion in federal court asking the court reopen his case due to the breakdown in counsel over his decades of review, particularly the failure of counsel to bring evidence of his intellectual disability. Lee has presented new evidence showing that he has fetal alcohol syndrome disorder, significant brain damage, and intellectual disability. These facts were concealed by the line of counsel plagued with conflicts of interests, substance abuse, serious mental illness, and gross incompetence.
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Arkansas
Apr 2017
Capital Punishment
Lee v. Kelly
Ledell Lee has filed a motion in federal court asking the court reopen his case due to the breakdown in counsel over his decades of review, particularly the failure of counsel to bring evidence of his intellectual disability. Lee has presented new evidence showing that he has fetal alcohol syndrome disorder, significant brain damage, and intellectual disability. These facts were concealed by the line of counsel plagued with conflicts of interests, substance abuse, serious mental illness, and gross incompetence.