SCOTUS Blocks Execution in Georgia Over a Juror's Racial Bias
“One might wonder why the Court engages in this pointless exercise,” Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in his dissent. “The only possible explanation is its concern with the 'unusual facts' of this case, specifically a juror affidavit that expresses racist opinions about blacks. The opinions in the affidavit are certainly odious. But their odiousness does not excuse us from doing our job correctly, or allow us to pretend that the lower courts have not done theirs.”
January 08, 2018 at 02:25 PM
4 minute read
Racial bias of a juror who questioned whether black people have souls led the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday morning to block the execution of a Georgia man.
The highest court issued a two-and-a-half page per curiam order Monday, returning the case of convicted killer Keith Tharpe to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
Justice Clarence Thomas, joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, wrote a 13-page dissent, reasoning that Tharpe is going to die anyway. Thomas, a Georgia native, said that Tharpe could not prove that bias affected the jury's decision to approve the death penalty.
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