The Supreme Court agreed to clarify the impact of its 2002 Ring v. Arizona ruling that held that jurors, rather than a judge, must be allowed to determine whether a defendant is eligible for a death sentence. The Justices will decide whether the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit was correct when it overturned Warren Summerlin’s death sentence, holding that Ring should apply retroactively to inmates who had exhausted their direct appeal. While the Supreme Court’s Ring ruling invalidated the death sentencing laws of Arizona, Montana, Idaho, Nebraska and Colorado, it did not make clear if its ruling should apply retroactively to everyone on those states’ death rows. Since the decision, courts have issued differing interpretations on the retroactivity question.
The Supreme Court will also hear the case an Alabama death row inmate who claims that execution by lethal injection would be unconstitutionally cruel because of his existing medical condition. (Associated Press, December 1, 2003) In Nelson v. Campbell, the Court will focus on the proper procedural status of the appeal, rather than on the method of execution. See DPIC’s Ring v. Arizona page. See also, Supreme Court.