Another 5-4 SCOTUS ruling in a criminal case
No Claiborne or Rita from the Supreme Court today, but the did issue one decision and it is yet another 5-4 ruling in a criminal case. Here is the initial report from Lyle Denniston at SCOTUSblog:
The Supreme Court on Monday granted no new cases. It issued one ruling — Schriro v. Landrigan (05-1575), reversing the Ninth Circuit. The Court divided 5-4 in ruling that a federal judge did not err in refusing to grant a state prisoner an evidentiary hearing on a claim of inadequate legal advice from his lawyer.
In a term marked by split ruling, it seems that nearly every notable criminal law case is coming down 5-4. This fact perhaps makes it even more remarkable that Cunningham was a 6-3 decision, and perhaps also suggests we should not expect unified opinions in Claiborne or Rita.
UPDATE: The opinion in Landrigan is available at this link.