The Supreme Court and the death penalty

The Sentencing Law and Policy blog has a collection of interesting posts regarding the future of the death penalty at the Supreme Court level. The primary question, in my mind, is this: Will the Court continue a recent trend of exerting due diligence over the fairness of death sentences? Or will the Court continue a longer, more historic trend of granting significant deference to the states, even in the face of unfairness or of error?

Of course, if it heads in the first direction, there will be fewer executions. If it heads in the second, there will be more executions.

Sentencing Law and Policy writes:

On this issue, like many others, Judge Roberts has a stealth quality. It will be interesting to see if death penalty issues — or other sentencing issues for that matter — play a significant role in Judge Roberts' confirmation hearings next month.

He's linked to several previous posts regarding death penalty jurisprudence and the Supreme Court. To skim through the posts, go here.