Court Opinion

ID: 9432690
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:35:59.397195+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:08:13.465207
License: Public Domain

Justice Scalia,
dissenting.
For the reasons given in my opinion in Sochor v. Florida, 504 U. S. 527, 553 (1992), I dissent from the Court’s summary reversal of Espinosa’s death sentence. Since the Florida courts found several constitutionally sound aggravating factors in this case, Espinosa’s death sentence unquestionably comports with the “narrowing” requirement of Furman v. Georgia, 408 U. S. 238 (1972). Compliance with that requirement is the only special capital sentencing procedure that the Eighth Amendment demands. See Walton v. Arizona, 497 U. S. 639, 669-673 (1990) (SCALIA, J., concurring in part and concurring in judgment). I would deny the petition.