There is extensive coverage of yesterday's Supreme Court ruling in Skinner v. Switzer. I'll link to editorials in this post, followed by national news coverage and finally, Texas news coverage.
"High court's ruling on DNA tests is a lifeline for inmates," is the editorial in today's Washington Post.
HENRY W. SKINNER was on death row in Texas and less than an hour away from being executed when the Supreme Court agreed to hear his case. On Monday, the justices threw Mr. Skinner and others like him a lifeline.
And:
Texas is among the states that allow convicts to seek post-conviction DNA tests. But two state courts turned down Mr. Skinner's requests; he then pressed his case in the federal system. The justices were asked to determine whether he was legally entitled to do so. In a majority opinion written by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and joined by five others, including Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. , the justices concluded that he was.
Justice Ginsburg, in addressing the concerns of critics, noted that there is no evidence that allowing these challenges would lead to a "litigation flood or even rainfall." And she pushed back against the assertion that prisoners would abuse the federal process to illegitimately challenge their convictions. In reality, the court's decision provides prisoners like Mr. Skinner only with a chance to convince a trial judge that additional testing is needed. There is no guarantee that he will prevail and no assurances that the results will help Mr. Skinner; additional testing, after all, could bolster the prosecution's case or prove inconclusive.
"DNA and the truth," is the Chicago Tribune editorial.
If you're going to put a man to death for a crime, you'd want to be sure you've got the right guy. At least most of us would. But prosecutors in Texas have fought a request for DNA testing by Hank Skinner, who was less than an hour away from being executed when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear his case.
On Monday, the court said he may pursue a lawsuit requiring prosecutors to allow analysis of crime-scene evidence. If that evidence confirms Skinner's guilt, there will be plenty of time to put him to death. But if he's wrongly executed, the mistake can't be undone.
Earlier coverage of the Skinner ruling begins at the link
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