Application for stay of execution of sentence of death, presented to Justice White, and by him referred to the Court, denied.
dissenting.
Adhering to my view that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153 , 227 (1976), I would grant the application for stay in order to give the applicant time to file a petition for writ of certiorari, and would grant the petition and vacate the sentence in this case.
with whom Justice Brennan joins,
Applicant seeks a stay of execution, claiming that the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments are offended by the State’s attempt to execute him for a crime he committed while a juvenile. This Court has not yet considered whether imposition of the death penalty for a minor’s crimes is so antagonistic to civilized notions of morality as to transgress the bounds imposed by the Constitution. I believe it is time for this Court to address this issue of profound significance. See Roach v. Aiken, 474 U. S. 1039 (1986) (Brennan, J., joined by Marshall, J., dissenting). Accordingly, I would grant the stay of execution in order to afford Pinkerton an opportunity to present his claim in a petition for certiorari.
Cases cited
- Gregg v. Georgia 428 U. S. 153 p. 1109
- Roach v. Aiken 474 U. S. 1039 p. 1109