Big interesting First Circuit opinion on the federal death penalty

Thanks to this amusing post at AL&P, you can get the highlights of the First Circuit’s big opinion affirming a federal death sentence in US v. Sampson, No. 04-6001 (1st Cir. May 7, 2007) (available here).  Real capital afficionados will want to take the time to read all 81 pages of Sampson, which covers lots of intriguing death penalty issues.  Here are the basics of the ruling from the opinion’s introduction:

This is a landmark case; for the first time in its history, this court must review a sentence of death imposed by a federal judge.  To that extent, we are writing on a pristine page.  We are guided in this pathbreaking endeavor, however, by a variety of reliable sources, including Supreme Court precedent, decisions of other courts of appeals in capital cases, and legal principles of general application….

We begin this opinion by sketching the background of the case.  We then discuss Sampson’s arguments about the constitutionality of the FDPA and the death penalty itself. Finally, we address the myriad claims of trial-related error. In the end, we reject Sampson’s asseverational array in its entirety and affirm his capital sentence.

I may have some substantive reactions to this opinion after I get a chance tonight to review it more closely.  Substance aside, the Sampson ruling raises some interesting procedural questions, such as

• Might the Supreme Court take cert on this case?
• Will Sampson have anything left to argue in habeas after this copious ruling?
• Does any of this matter given that, as noted here and here last month, the Bush Administration has seemingly embraced a de facto moratorium on federal executions?