Case Name: Brooks v. Estelle, Director, Texas Department of Corrections
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: United States
Decision Date: 1982-12-06
Citations: 459 U.S. 1061
Docket Number: No. A-504
Parties: Brooks v. Estelle, Director, Texas Department of Corrections.
Judges: 
Reporter: United States Reports
Volume: 459
Pages: 1061–1067

Head Matter:
No. A-504.
Brooks v. Estelle, Director, Texas Department of Corrections.

Opinion:
This matter was presented to Justice White on December 2, 1982, on an application for a stay of execution, and by him referred to the Court.
When the matter came before the Court the opinion of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dated December 6, 1982, was before us. That opinion after a review of the facts and procedural history concluded as follows:
"Despite the eleventh-hour presentation of new issues, we have reviewed each of the new issues carefully and again reviewed each of the issues previously presented to us. Each member of this panel is acutely aware that Brooks' life may depend on our action. Each of us is determined to fulfill our sworn obligation to up hold and defend the Constitution and Laws of the United States, doing justice to the rich and to the poor alike, favoring neither the rich because he is rich, nor the poor because he is poor. We have the same duty to act impartially between the condemned and the state, favoring neither the state nor the condemned. That duty compels us to declare that we find no substantial question presented.
"The merits of Brooks' claims have been presented by a total of twelve lawyers, in nine separate hearings, and have by this time been reviewed by 23 judges, state and federal. Despite this, we would not hesitate to grant the stay were we aware of any argument of substance, any contention that would benefit by further briefing and oral argument. The application for stay has received the sober, reasoned, and deliberate consideration of Brooks' claim that the irrevocable nature of the penalty demands. Our granting of yet another stay at this late hour for further review of claims so often considered and of such little merit would be abdication of our duty to face and decide the issue before us in accordance with the Constitution and Laws of the United States.
"For these reasons, the application for stay is denied."
(1) Addressing first the application for a stay of execution, reconsideration of which was denied by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the application for a stay of execution is hereby denied.
(2) This Court denied applicant's petition for a writ of cer-tiorari on June 29, 1981, Brooks v. Texas, 453 U. S. 913, and denied rehearing on September 23, 1981, 453 U. S. 950; treating the papers filed since then as a second petition for rehearing of the denial of certiorari, the same is hereby denied.
(3)Treating the papers filed since December 2, 1982, as a petition for certiorari, or alternatively as a petition for certio-rari before judgment, the same is hereby denied.