Alito Opposes Conservatives in Death Penalty Case

^{Category: Capital Punishment | Samuel Alito Jr.}

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Justice Alito's first case before the Supreme Court may turn out to have landmark implications. In his very first case, Alito sided with Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens in a 6-3 decision, with dissents from conservatives Scalia, Thomas, and Roberts, in ruling that death penalty inmates may challenge the constitutionality of the administration of lethal injection on Eighth Amendment grounds. The text of the ruling does not appear to be online yet.

The Supreme Court will rule again on lethal injection when the Court addresses Hill v. Crosby in April.

Alito's decision to side with the majority in this case serves as a clear reminder that it's too early to determine what the new justice's legacy will be, or how he will decide cases brought before the court. In yesterday's ruling, he gave both his staunchest supporters and his staunchest opponents reason to wonder if they really knew Samuel Alito as well as they thought they did.