Entries tagged with “Sandra Day O'Connor

Innocence

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United States Supreme Court

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Sep 19, 2024

Hispanic Heritage Month: Leonel Herrera and the Agony of Doubt”

In 1993, the Supreme Court gen­er­at­ed wide­spread out­rage when it ruled in Herrera v. Collins that new evi­dence of actu­al inno­cence does not enti­tle a death-sen­tenced pris­on­er to a hear­ing in fed­er­al court. Not Guilty? It Doesn’t Matter,” report­ed the Atlanta Constitution, while USA Today plead­ed, Don’t Make It Easier to Execute the Innocent.” Many news­pa­pers and advo­cates took up the final line in Justice Harry Blackmun’s blis­ter­ing dis­sent: The exe­cu­tion of a per­son who can show…

Facts & Research

United States Supreme Court

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Dec 05, 2023

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s Conflicted Death Penalty Jurisprudence

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to sit on the United States Supreme Court, died at the age of 93 on December 1, 2023. In her 25-year tenure on the Court, Justice O’Connor authored opin­ions in sev­er­al land­mark death penal­ty cas­es, includ­ing deci­sions that upheld the use of the death penal­ty for vul­ner­a­ble groups and peo­ple with dimin­ished cul­pa­bil­i­ty. However, she demon­strat­ed an ear­ly inter­est in improv­ing cap­i­tal defense stan­dards, and in her lat­er years on the Court expressed…