Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Sentencing Law and Policy

Criminal Law

: Sentencing Law and Policy

Lots of praise for Baze and for capital punishment federalism

By Douglas A. Berman

I suspect the nearly 100-page Baze lethal injection ruling from SCOTUS today will be subject to a lot of criticism, in part because the array of disparate opinions provide lots of fodder for anyone who want to beat up on the Court as a whole or on just about any particular Justice.  Indeed, I likely will take some pot shots at the Court's work once I have a chance to read all the Baze opinions closely.  However, my first reaction to the opinion upon a quick skim is to heap lots of praise on the Court's collective work.  Here's my thinking: 1.  The Court collectively merits lots of credit for relatively speedy work on such an important and challenging case.  I was worried state would might have to wait until June for an opinion, but it is now clear that the Justices prioritized getting this case completed so that the urgent business of the death penalty can move forward...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on April 16, 2008 (boomark / email).