Reconsidering Roper?
Over at SCOTUSblog, Lyle Denniston has this fascinating post, titled “A new challenge to Roper,” which reports on a cert petition in which the State Alabama asks the Supreme Court to reverse its decision in Roper v. Simmons, declaring unconstitutional imposition of the death penalty on an defendant who committed a murder under age 18. Here are the basics:
The state of Alabama has begun a new effort to try to get [Roper] overturned. In a new petition for review filed last month, Alabama v. Adams, the state presents this simple question: “Whether this Could should reconsider its decision in Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (1005).” The petition for cert. (docket 05-1309), including the brief Alabama Supreme Court decision at issue, can be found here.
The SCOTUSblog post has already generate a fantastic debate in these comments. In addition, as the new-look How Appealing notes here, the Alabama Supreme Court’s Alabama v. Adams decision was the “ruling that led recused Justice Tom Parker, in an op-ed published in The Birmingham News, to harshly criticize his non-recused colleagues for the decision they reached.”
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