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Justices Rule on Legal Effects of Slow-Moving Cases

By standdown

That's the title of Adam Liptak's report in today's New York Times.  LINKThe Supreme Court issued two rulings on Monday concerning the consequences of long delays in the criminal justice system.In one, the court declined to hear an appeal from a death row inmate who argued that he should not be executed because the 32 years he spent on death row amounted to cruel and unusual punishment barred by the Eighth Amendment. The court?s decision not to hear the case touched off a lively debate among three justices.The court also ruled that a Vermont man?s right to a speedy trial had not been violated despite a three-year delay. When the court accepted the speedy-trial case, Vermont v. Brillon, No. 08-88, it appeared to be ready to decide whether delays by court-appointed lawyers provided by the state may sometimes amount to a violation of the right...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on March 10, 2009 (boomark / email).