Interesting new criminal justice commentary from SCOTUSblog

When SCOTUS is winding down a term in late June/early July, I typically find myself over at SCOTUSblog multiple times a day.  During the Court’s summer recess, though, I will not always make a habit of checking out SCOTUSblog regularly.  But in just the last few days, SCOTUSblog has had a number of new posts that criminal justice fans will want to be sure to check out.  Here are links and a taste:

From Rory Little, “Justice Neil Gorsuch’s “right to jury trial’ revolution“:

Once on the court, Gorsuch has become the primary defender, and expander, of the right to a jury trial [though rulings and votes in many cases]…. [O]f even greater significance [than some other opinions] is Gorsuch’s little-noticed – so far – writing in the 2023-24 term about criminal sentencing and the right to a jury trial. If his words for a six-justice majority are taken literally, then Erlinger v. United States might well be the “sleeper decision of 2024.” The opinion can be read to require a jury trial for virtually any criminal sentencing proceeding, which would revolutionize criminal sentencing.

From Daniel Harawa, “The shadows of the emergency docket“:

When it comes to the death penalty, the 2024-25 term presented a tale of two dockets. If you looked only at the merits docket, the Supreme Court seemed surprisingly sympathetic to people on death row…. But that picture changes the moment you take heed of the emergency docket.

From Kelsey Dallas, “Where the Supreme Court’s two most conservative justices part ways“:

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito [are] the Supreme Court’s most closely aligned — and most ideologically conservative — pair…. So what were the two cases in which Thomas and Alito were on opposite sides last term? They both had to do with criminal proceedings.