It makes a mockery of our system of justice for a convicted murderer, who, through his own interminable efforts of delay has secured the almost indefinite postponement of his sentence, to then claim that the almost-indefinite postponement renders his sentence unconstitutional.

Here is what Justice Thomas had to say in response to a similar statement that Breyer made three years ago regarding a Florida prisoner:

Justice Breyer’s first concern is “that the death penalty might not be administered for another 40 years or more” after the jury’s verdict. That is a reason to carry out the death penalty sooner, not to decline to impose it. In any event, petitioner evidently is not bothered by delay. Petitioner has litigated all the way through the state courts and petitioned this Court for review three separate times. He can avoid “endur[ing]” an “unconscionably long dela[y]” [Breyer’s words] by submitting to what the people of Florida have deemed him to deserve: execution. It makes a mockery of our system of justice for a convicted murderer, who, through his own interminable efforts of delay has secured the almost-indefinite postponement of his sentence, to then claim that the almost-indefinite postponement renders his sentence unconstitutional.

It is no mystery why it often takes decades to execute a convicted murderer. The labyrinthine restrictions on capital punishment promulgated by this Court have caused the delays that Justice Breyer now bemoans. As “the Drum Major in this parade” of new precedents [quoting Justice Scalia in Glossip v. Gross], Justice Breyer is not well positioned to complain about their inevitable consequences. [Some citations and quotation marks omitted.]

I hope that Breyer is determined to stay on the Court until he has persuaded his colleagues to adopt his position.

Drum Major Breyer Continues One-Man Parade

By ED WHELAN

October 4, 2021 10:15 AM

Carl Wayne Buntion gunned down a Houston police officer in 1990 and was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death in 1991. In a statement today respecting (but not dissenting from) the denial of certiorari in Buntion v. Lumpkin (see pp. 58-59 of order list), Justice Breyer observes that Buntion “has now been on death row under threat of execution for 30 years” and reiterates his peculiar position that “excessive delay” in administering the death penalty is “especially cruel” and that “execution after such an extended delay” raises serious Eighth Amendment concerns.

Here is what Justice Thomas had to say in response to a similar statement that Breyer made three years ago regarding a Florida prisoner:

I hope that Breyer is determined to stay on the Court until he has persuaded his colleagues to adopt his position.