Justice Sotomayor issued a strong dissenting opinion last night. She criticized the Supreme Court’s majority for being quick to grant stays when the Department of Justice asks for them, but skeptical when death row prisoners request the same form of relief.
Here’s what Justice Sotomayor wrote: “This Court often permits executions—where the risk of irreparable harm is the loss of life—to proceed, justifying many of those decisions on purported failures ‘to raise any potentially meritorious claims in a timely manner.’”
Justice Sotomayor continued: “Yet the Court’s concerns over quick decisions wither when prodded by the Government in far less compelling circumstances...”
Justice Sotomayor concluded: “I fear that this disparity in treatment erodes the fair and balanced decisionmaking process that this Court must strive to protect. I respectfully dissent.”
You can read the full opinion here: supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf…
