NEW VOICES: Kansas Supreme Court Justice Reflects: ​“Do I Have It Right?”

In a report filed by the Kansas Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee, retired Kansas Supreme Court Justice Fred N. Six not­ed that cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment cas­es pose immense bur­dens on judges. He stated: 

Always in the con­scious­ness of that jus­tice is the ques­tion, ​“do I have it right?” A wrong call is irre­versible because ​“death is dif­fer­ent.” The ​“do I have it right” ques­tion trav­els with you. You car­ry it with you dur­ing the work­day, delib­er­a­tions at case con­fer­ence, your com­mute to and from work, before retir­ing at night, and on week­ends. The ques­tion shad­ows you. However, nor­mal shad­ows dis­ap­pear at sun­down, the ​“do I have it right” does not. You also car­ry a brief case filled with death case mate­r­i­al home at night and on week­ends. This brief case becomes your ​“con­stant com­pan­ion” until the death case opin­ion is filed.

(Report of the Judicial Council Death Penalty Advisory Committee, January 29, 2004) See New Voices.