News from the Sixth Circuit

Let me turn straight to a post earlier today by Howard Bashman at How Appealing:

"So long as the Supreme Court deems the death penalty to be permissible under the Constitution, and so long as prosecutors and state court judges are subject to political pressure to be 'tough on crime' and pro-death penalty, the politicization of the death penalty will only accelerate." So writes Circuit Judge Boyce F. Martin, Jr., dissenting from the Sixth Circuit's denial of rehearing en banc today in a death penalty case from Ohio. You can access the order denying rehearing en banc and today's opinions related to that order at this link. The Sixth Circuit's earlier, divided three-judge panel decision in the case can be accessed here.

I recommend reading all of Judge Martin's strong dissent.  Doug Berman has commentary about the Sixth Circuit here.