Judge Roberts on capital punishment

Thanks to this post at TalkLeft, I have just seen this Washington Post article by Charles Lane from earlier this week discussing how "the substitution of Roberts for Justice Sandra Day O'Connor could make a difference on the death penalty."  The piece provides effective background on both O'Connor and Roberts on capital punishment matters, and it also reprints passages from Roberts' 2003 confirmation hearing for his seat on the DC Circuit in which he discussed death penalty issues with Senator Russ Feingold. 

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.  In the meantime, I have linked below some of my recent coverage of related SCOTUS capital sentencing issues:

• Is Judge Roberts personally against capital punishment?
• Will O'Connor's replacement shift capital jurisprudence?
• Considering O'Connor's capital sentencing legacy
• The impact of SCOTUS's heightened scrutiny in capital cases