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Cert petition on video victim impact evidence

By Douglas A. Berman

This new post at SCOTUSblog discusses a very interesting case coming to the Supreme Court concerning victim impact evidence.  Here is the start of the post:Nearly two decades ago, in Payne v. Tennessee (1991), the Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment did not bar the introduction of ?victim impact evidence? at the penalty phase of capital trials. The Court held that just as the Constitution gave defendants the right to present evidence designed to avoid imposition of the death penalty, it did not forbid testimony designed to show the victim was a unique human being whose loss left an impact on the survivors and society at large. At the opening conference at the end of September, the Justices will decide whether to grant review in a case involving whether the Constitution nonetheless places limits on how such evidence may be presented...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on August 30, 2008 (boomark / email).