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Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Mon Jun 13, 2005 at 08:54:10 AM EST
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With a stinging rebuke, the Supreme Court today threw out the death sentence of Thomas Miller-El. Prosecutors in the case had removed 91% of the black jurors.

Prosecutors removed 10 out of 11 potential black jurors before the trial. Miller-El is black while the victim was white. The jury had nine whites, one Hispanic, one Filipino and one black....[Justice David] Souter said the jury selection process was "replete with evidence that the prosecutors were selecting and rejecting potential jurors because of race."

The opinion by Justice Souter is here. Justices Scalia and Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist dissented.

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    Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence (none / 0) (#1)
    by mpower1952 on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 12:59:59 PM EST
    Justices Scalia and Thomas and Chief Justice Rehnquist dissented. So what else is new? God they are hateful.

    Re: Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence (none / 0) (#2)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:00 PM EST
    As long as I live, I will never be able to understand Thomas.

    Re: Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence (none / 0) (#3)
    by Peter G on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:00 PM EST
    Let's remember that this case came to the Supreme Court (twice) after being twice upheld by the Fifth Circuit, which has to review all of the many unfair Texas death verdicts, not just a select few, like the Supremes. Of course, now the Fifth Circuit has Judges Priscilla Owens and William Pryor to keep them honest.

    Re: Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:00:00 PM EST
    People want to close their eyes to the fact that the death penalty is racially biased--in terms of the condemned sentenced and the victims avenged--so the Supremes decision in this case should wake a few folks up. Maybe once Texas finally has the balls to put life without parole on the books, it'll lose its status as the free world's leading executioner. Unfortunately, in this case, Clarence Thomas also shows why he should be traded away from Black America. The only black man's hide he'd be interested in saving is his own.

    Supreme Court Tosses Texas Death Sentence | 4 comments (4 topical)