Courts battle over Harris execution; an impatient Supreme Court orders an end to last-minute stays by 9th Circuit

Article Abstract:

Both those who are for and against the death penalty agree that the chaotic way in which Robert Alton Harris was put to death in mid-1992 was harmful to the process of justice. Proponents of the death penalty think the attempts at last-minute delays were abusive and that claims raised at the last minute, such as the one that death in the gas chamber constituted cruel and unusual punishment, should have been raised much earlier during Harris' years on death row. Opponents think the last minute rush to present claims happens because the approaching execution clarifies issues.

Public opinion, Capital punishment

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Supreme Court bans routine vacatur; unanimous decision considered adverse to business, government

Article Abstract:

The US Supreme Court has ruled in US Bancorp v. Bonner Mall that parties settling a case may not routinely vacate rulings which have been appealed, using the rationale that precedents are valuable to the whole legal community and not just private litigants. The Bonner decision may have wide-ranging impact since litigants often try to nullify judgments against them by having adverse rulings vacated after settlement.

Cases, Judgments, Judgments (Law), Equitable remedies, Vacatur

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Lesson in rewriting consent decrees; Barr plan to lift prison population caps hindered by Supreme Court decision

Article Abstract:

Attorney General William P. Barr plans to help states that wish to contest court orders or consent decrees regarding prison overcrowding. A recent Supreme Court case, Rufo v Inmates of Suffolk County Jail, may impede his plans. It holds that consent decrees should not be rewritten so as to conform to the bare minimum the Constitution requires.

Analysis, Prisons, Imprisonment

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