Compelling capital cases nationwide

The media provided lots of coverage of the Miller-El case argued before the Supreme Court yesterday, and Linda Greenhouse’s NY Times account here includes all the highlights.  The Texas case now in front of the Supreme Court for the second time (details here and here) is about jury selection more than sentencing, though it is a stark reminder of how, as we have seen throughout American history, racial dynamics infect the administration of capital punishment.  Reading tea leaves, it was interesting that, according to the Times account, Justice Breyer said jokingly during the Miller-El argument that “It might be in my interest if people followed dissents more often.”  Perhaps this reveals Justice Breyer has Blakely on the brain.

In other interesting capital news, it now appears virtually certain that next month Connecticut will have its first execution in the modern death penalty era.  As detailed in this news story, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell stated yesterday that she will not issue a reprieve for serial killer Michael Ross, who is scheduled to be executed in January.  In her public statement, which you can read here, Governor Rell also said she would veto any legislation that repeals the state’s death penalty.

Replaying a common pattern for the first execution in a state, Michael Ross is a “volunteer” who is seeking to speed his path to Connecticut’s death chamber.  (The very first person executed after Furman was volunteer Gary Gilmore; here in Ohio, the first person executed was volunteer Wilford Berry; the federal death penalty got back in business with volunteer Timothy McVeigh.)  In this case, defendant Ross even wrote a long letter to Governor Rell asking her not to use her reprieve power, which you can read about in this AP story.

And, on the other coast, this news story reports on the California Supreme Court case which will try to resolve which criminal defendants qualify as “mentally retarded” and thus constitutionally ineligible for execution.  In 2002, the Supreme Court in Atkins v. Virginia declared that executing persons with mental retardation was now unconstitutional, but the Justices punted to the states the tough medical/legal question of who qualifies as “mentally retarded.”

UPDATE: Thanks to Howard Bashman at How Appealing for the links here, you can read more this morning from the The Hartford Courant about Connecticut Governor Rell’s decision not to issue a reprieve for serial killer Michael Ross.