The U.S. Supreme Court denied the latest petition from a black Georgia death row inmate who claims racial bias by a white juror who categorized African-Americans as “black folks” or “niggers,” prompting an angry response from Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

Sotomayor agreed the denial may have been justified because the latest decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Keith Tharpe’s case did not turn on the merits of his jury claim but rather on procedural issues.