In First Decision, Alito Votes to Block Execution

Digitonomy · #1 Feb 2, '06, 7:59 am

Quote:

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 (AP) — Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. cast his first vote on the Supreme Court on Wednesday, splitting with the court's conservatives in an appeal from a Missouri inmate who was to be executed at midnight.

Justice Alito joined five members of the court in blocking the execution of the inmate, Michael Taylor, who had argued that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment, a claim also used by two Florida death-row inmates that won stays from the Supreme Court over the past week.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas voted to lift a stay that Mr. Taylor had won from an appeals court earlier in the evening.

Source

Anglican77 · #2 Feb 2, '06, 8:43 am

That's great!!

matt1985 · #3 Feb 2, '06, 9:16 am

Well I'm happy that he blocked an execution because I am pro-life on the DP, but let's hope he is conservative on the upcoming partial-birth abortion case. This vote could very well mean Alito is another Sandra Day O'Connor. It appears that John Roberts will be reliably pro-life, but if this ruling is an indication of how Alito will rule on future cases, regardless of weather or not you agree with it, it could mean that Alito may be the fifth vote to strike down the partial birth abortion ban.

GregoryPalamas · #4 Feb 2, '06, 9:33 am

I don't see anything yet to worry about. I believe that executions ought to be few and far between and a last resort. That is what the Church believes as well, as far as I can tell. Perhaps there is something potentially troubling in this particular case that caused Justice Alito to vote against it.

Let's watch him carefully over the next few months and decisions to see what he does on Life issues.

CDL

Brain · #5 Feb 2, '06, 11:49 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by matt1985

Well I'm happy that he blocked an execution because I am pro-life on the DP, but let's hope he is conservative on the upcoming partial-birth abortion case. This vote could very well mean Alito is another Sandra Day O'Connor. It appears that John Roberts will be reliably pro-life, but if this ruling is an indication of how Alito will rule on future cases, regardless of weather or not you agree with it, it could mean that Alito may be the fifth vote to strike down the partial birth abortion ban.

yeah, well you would have to be pro life on the DP...
otherwise you would be anti-abortion and anti-euthinasia, and anti-... and so on. PL is a package deal

harinkj · #6 Feb 2, '06, 2:47 pm

I think Justice Alito will be a very thoughtful justice with a particular line of reasoning, which at times may be moderate. This may mean he will not be totally anti-abortion. I think Harriet Miers would have been a much more religious jurist and reliable anti-abortion jurist. For the conservative religious right, I think bowing to the neoconservative right and dropping Harriet Miers may have been a huge mistake. Very huge.

- Kathie

bekalc · #7 Feb 2, '06, 3:31 pm

How is voting "pro life" on a death penalty case mean that Justice Alito is going to be pro abortion!

The Death penalty is a life issue too, and well I'm not one hundred percent sure it should be one hundred percent abolished, it should be at the very least restricted majorily big time.

If anything being pro life and anti-death penalty is far more consistent than pro life and pro death oir pro-choice and anti-death penalty IMO..

**rlg94086** · #8 Feb 2, '06, 3:36 pm

Is there any evidence to cause you to think this? Incredible insight from personal experience? Psychic powers?

Quote:

Originally Posted by harinkj

I think Justice Alito will be a very thoughtful justice with a particular line of reasoning, which at times may be moderate. This may mean he will not be totally anti-abortion. I think Harriet Miers would have been a much more religious jurist and reliable anti-abortion jurist. For the conservative religious right, I think bowing to the neoconservative right and dropping Harriet Miers may have been a huge mistake. Very huge.

- Kathie

John Higgins · #9 Feb 2, '06, 3:43 pm

Imagine that! Could Justice Alito be voting on the law rather than some agenda? Perish the thought!!

John

mary bobo · #10 Feb 2, '06, 5:46 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by bekalc

How is voting "pro life" on a death penalty case mean that Justice Alito is going to be pro abortion!

The Death penalty is a life issue too, and well I'm not one hundred percent sure it should be one hundred percent abolished, it should be at the very least restricted majorily big time.

If anything being pro life and anti-death penalty is far more consistent than pro life and pro death oir pro-choice and anti-death penalty IMO..

On Fox this afternoon, Judge Napolitano, who knows Justice Alito well, says that Alito felt that the judge involved in this case should be given more time and the same with the defendants lawyers. He did not say he was not in favor of the death penalty when all appeals have been completed.

Lurch104 · #11 Feb 2, '06, 6:38 pm

Two men abducted, raped, and murdered a 15 year old high school student while waiting for her bus to school. They stabbed her while she pleaded for her life. The two men admitted their crime, and DNA evidence proves it. He stayed the execution to determine if lethal injection causes pain. What a crock. I wish he would focus on the victims of this crime instead of those who commited it.

I hope that this isn't another Ruth Ginsberg in the making. We need someone to apply the law on the SCOTUS, not an activist. I am troubled by this.

The same people who are Anti-DP, are anti Life w/o parole (also deemed cruel). If they get their way, men like these will again be walking the streets, raping and killing our wives and daughters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GregoryPalamas

I don't see anything yet to worry about. I believe that executions ought to be few and far between and a last resort. That is what the Church believes as well, as far as I can tell. Perhaps there is something potentially troubling in this particular case that caused Justice Alito to vote against it.

Let's watch him carefully over the next few months and decisions to see what he does on Life issues.

CDL

**rlg94086** · #12 Feb 2, '06, 9:07 pm

Lurch,

Don't panic! Read mary bobo's post. This was not an overturn of his conviction. It was not an indictment of the Death Penalty. The news folks at AP are sensationalizing a rather minor decision.

Robert

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lurch104

Two men abducted, raped, and murdered a 15 year old high school student while waiting for her bus to school. They stabbed her while she pleaded for her life. The two men admitted their crime, and DNA evidence proves it. He stayed the execution to determine if lethal injection causes pain. What a crock. I wish he would focus on the victims of this crime instead of those who commited it.

I hope that this isn't another Ruth Ginsberg in the making. We need someone to apply the law on the SCOTUS, not an activist. I am troubled by this.

The same people who are Anti-DP, are anti Life w/o parole (also deemed cruel). If they get their way, men like these will again be walking the streets, raping and killing our wives and daughters.

harinkj · #13 Feb 3, '06, 12:53 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlg94086

Is there any evidence to cause you to think this? Incredible insight from personal experience? Psychic powers?

It was when the eye of newt was added to the brew.

- Kathie

harinkj · #14 Feb 3, '06, 12:55 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by bekalc

How is voting "pro life" on a death penalty case mean that Justice Alito is going to be pro abortion!

The Death penalty is a life issue too, and well I'm not one hundred percent sure it should be one hundred percent abolished, it should be at the very least restricted majorily big time.

If anything being pro life and anti-death penalty is far more consistent than pro life and pro death oir pro-choice and anti-death penalty IMO..

That is the point. Sadly many conservatives only see pro-life in abortion cases but see pro-death in death penalty cases. There are different kinds of conservatives.

- Kathie

Al Masetti · #15 Feb 3, '06, 4:30 am

None of the above.

In death penalty cases, the Supreme Court likes to avoid 5-4 decisions. Since there were only three votes in favor of going ahead anyway and since Alito's vote wouldn't have made any difference in the outcome, Alito voted so that it would be 6-3 in favor of further review. This is Supreme Court tradition in these kinds of cases.