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November 8, 2016
Should and will SCOTUS take up Rommell Broom's constitutional claim that Ohio cannot try again to execute him after botched first attempt?
SCOTUSblog recently posted here its list of "Petitions to Watch" from the Supreme Court's scheduled conference of November 10, 2016, and all five cases on the list involve criminal justice issues. But the last of the listed petitions concerns a remarkable Ohio capital case that has been previously discussed on this blog, and is described this way:
Broom v. Ohio, No. 16-5580
Issues: (1) Whether the first attempt to execute the petitioner was cruel and unusual under the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution and if so, whether the appropriate remedy is to bar any further execution attempt on the petitioner; (2) whether a second attempt to execute the petitioner will be a cruel and unusual punishment and a denial of due process in violation of the Eighth and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution; and (3) whether a second attempt to execute the petitioner will violate double jeopardy protections under the Fifth and 14th Amendments to the United States Constitution.
I could discuss at great length not only why this case is so jurisprudentially interesting, but also why either a grant or a denial of cert at this stage of the litigation could prove quite interesting and controversial. Rather than go off on such matters, however, I will be content for now to link to some of my prior posts on this this case:
- Ohio struggling, legally and practically, with effort to execute offender (Sept 2009)
- Details on the botched Ohio execution attempt, issue spotting, and seeking predictions (Sept 2009)
- Will (and when and how will) SCOTUS have to weigh in on Ohio's desire to try execution again? (Sept 2009)
- Latest litigation update surrounding Ohio's unexecuted and re-execution plans (UPDATED with stay details) (Sept 2009)
- Federal hearing about constitutionality of Ohio's re-execution attempt pushed back months (Sept 2009)
- "Ohio GOP lawmakers: Execution process can be fixed" (Nov 2009)
- Ohio finally gets its execution protocol in order (and praised) (Nov 2012)
- "Does failed execution attempt mean Ohio prisoner can avoid death penalty?" (June 2015)
- Split Ohio Supreme Court decides state allowed to try again to execute Rommell Broom after prior botched attempt (March 2016)
- "How many times should a state be able to try to execute someone without running afoul of the Constitution?" (March 2016)
November 8, 2016 at 03:43 PM | Permalink
Comments
I commented eventually but see some old favorites in the early comments.
Doug B. must be tired since even as far back as 2009, he was alleged "whipped plenty of times."
Posted by: Joe | Nov 8, 2016 6:16:47 PM
Romell Broom has written his own account of the events leading up to the execution attempt - hear him on http://youtu.be/7Fi3EOVCvHY. The Court ruled that it 'didn't count' as 'the execution hadn't started yet.' But if it wasn't an execution (which surely starts when the death warrant is read to the person) then there was no reason for the whole two-hour ordeal, which must count as torture.
Broom, who has always claimed innocence of the crime (as his book 'Survivor on Death Row' makes clear) has already served 31 years incarceration, the equivalent of two life sentences. How many times should one person (possibly innocent) pay for the same crime?
Surely this is a case for clemency - or, if further examination of the case reveals insufficient evidence, for exoneration?
Posted by: C Nonhebel | Nov 10, 2016 2:06:06 PM
"has already served 31 years incarceration, the equivalent of two life sentences"
how is that calculated?
Posted by: Joe | Nov 10, 2016 2:32:34 PM