Court Opinion

ID: 9433219
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:39:23.766707+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:39.993793
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
with whom Justice Ginsburg joins,
dissenting.
Because there is no support in the record for the conclusion that the Court of Appeals abused its discretion when it granted a stay of execution to enable respondent Tuggle to file a petition for certiorari, I respectfully dissent. The fact that the respondent has substantial grounds for challenging the constitutionality of his death sentence is demonstrated both by the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus by the District Court and by the 19-page opinion filed by the Court of Appeals. Tuggle v. Thompson, 57 F. 3d 1356 (CA4 1995). Promptly after that opinion was announced, respondent filed a motion for a stay of execution supported by an explanation of why “the three-part inquiry,” ante this page, described in Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U. S. 880, 895-896 (1983), warranted *953that relief. It is disrespectful to the Court of Appeals to assume that its grant of that motion did not implicitly endorse the reasoning in respondent’s moving papers.
The stay of execution would merely have given respondent the opportunity to seek the review in this Court that has been authorized by Congress and our Rules. In my opinion it is both unwise and unfair to require a death row inmate who has acted diligently at all stages of his litigation to prepare and file a petition raising substantial claims more promptly than other litigants. I would deny the warden’s application.
Justice Souter would deny the application to vacate stay of execution.
Justice Breyer, for reasons stated in the first paragraph of Justice Stevens’ dissent, votes to deny the application.