Capital Punishment
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All Cases
57 Capital Punishment Cases
U.S. Supreme Court
May 2022
Nance v. Ward
May a death-row prisoner use 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to challenge a state’s proposed method of execution as cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment, when his proposed alternative method of execution is not presently authorized under the extant state law?
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Capital Punishment
Nance v. Ward
May a death-row prisoner use 42 U.S.C. § 1983 to challenge a state’s proposed method of execution as cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment, when his proposed alternative method of execution is not presently authorized under the extant state law?
May 2022
Status: Ongoing
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U.S. Supreme Court
Mar 2022
United States v. Tsarnaev
Whether the district court committed reversible error in excluding mitigating evidence that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s older brother had previously committed three brutal murders in the name of jihad, where the defense’s central mitigation theory was that he had acted under his brother’s influence and had a lesser role in the offense.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Capital Punishment
United States v. Tsarnaev
Whether the district court committed reversible error in excluding mitigating evidence that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s older brother had previously committed three brutal murders in the name of jihad, where the defense’s central mitigation theory was that he had acted under his brother’s influence and had a lesser role in the offense.
Mar 2022
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Sep 2019
McKinney v. Arizona
Mr. James Erin McKinney was sentenced to death by a judge who failed to consider significant mitigating evidence concerning Mr. McKinney’s PTSD.
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Capital Punishment
McKinney v. Arizona
Mr. James Erin McKinney was sentenced to death by a judge who failed to consider significant mitigating evidence concerning Mr. McKinney’s PTSD.
Sep 2019
Status: Closed (Judgment)
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U.S. Supreme Court
Feb 2019
Smith v. California 18-7094
Whether the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to prevent courts from allowing prosecutors to use prospective jurors’ opinions about the O.J. Simpson trial or other potential racial proxies as “race-neutral” explanations for striking black jurors without further inquiry.
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U.S. Supreme Court
Capital Punishment
Racial Justice
Smith v. California 18-7094
Whether the Supreme Court should grant certiorari to prevent courts from allowing prosecutors to use prospective jurors’ opinions about the O.J. Simpson trial or other potential racial proxies as “race-neutral” explanations for striking black jurors without further inquiry.
Feb 2019
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