Publications & Testimony

Items: 6321 — 6330

Aug 01, 2001

United States Supreme Court Decisions: 2000 — 2001 Term

In a 7 – 2 vote, the Court re-affirmed that defen­dants fac­ing the death penal­ty have the right to inform jurors when a life sen­tence would include no pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. The Court found that Wesley A. Shafer’s right to due process was vio­lat­ed when a South Carolina tri­al judge refused to clar­i­fy for jurors that, if they sen­tenced Shafer to life, he would have no pos­si­bil­i­ty of parole. Justice Ginsburg, writ­ing for the major­i­ty, stat­ed that the jury was obvi­ous­ly con­fused about the meaning of…

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