High court bickering over death cases, weeks after decisions
High court bickering over death cases, weeks after decisions Photo Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh A March 15, 2019 view of the Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court decided Monday that one state cannot unwillingly be sued in the courts of another, overruling a 40-year precedent and perhaps, foreshadowing an argument over the viability of other high court decisions. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) High court bickering over death cases, weeks after decisions By: Associated Press May 13 2019 1:53 PM Updated: May 13 2019 1:53 PM Photo Credit: AP Photo/Susan Walsh WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court shined an unusual light Monday on its internal squabbling over the death penalty, with the justices making public more than 30 pages of arguments on issues they decided weeks ago.
The high court almost never revisits opinions after the fact, though Monday was the second time this spring that the justices returned to arguments in an already-decided death penalty case. A decision in a Missouri death penalty case in April featured the justices also tussling in writing over a prior decision involving an Alabama death row inmate.
The justices frequently get asked to step in to halt executions at the last minute, and the spats aired Monday involve cases the court ruled on in March and April. In the more recent case, Alabama asked the Supreme Court to step in and allow the execution of Christopher Lee Price, whose execution had been halted by a lower court after he raised a challenge to the state’s lethal injection procedure.
The Supreme Court fractured 5-4 along liberal-conservative lines to allow his execution.
In that case, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for himself and his liberal colleagues that the conservative majority’s decision to let the execution go forward “calls into question the basic principles of fairness that should underlie our criminal justice system” and was evidence that “death sentences in the United States can be carried out in an arbitrary way.”
On Monday, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a 14-page response to, he said, “set the record straight.” Thomas said there was “nothing of substance” to Breyer’s claims. An “accurate recounting” of the circumstances surrounding the case show it was “set to proceed in a procedurally unremarkable and constitutional acceptable manner,” he wrote.
The justices’ original decision in the case came after Price’s death warrant expired, so a new execution date had to be set. Price, who was convicted of murder in the 1991 stabbing death of pastor Bill Lynn, is now set to be executed May 30.
Also on Monday, Justice Samuel Alito issued a new statement in the case of a Texas death row inmate, Patrick Murphy. Murphy, a Buddhist, asked the Supreme Court to halt his scheduled March execution if officials wouldn’t let his spiritual adviser accompany him into the execution chamber. Texas argued that only chaplains who had been extensively vetted by the prison system were allowed in the chamber and that while Christian and Muslim chaplains were available, no Buddhist priest was.
The high court ultimately granted Murphy a temporary reprieve. At the time, only Thomas and Justice Neil Gorsuch noted their disagreement but did not write to explain why. On Monday, Alito issued a 14-page statement in which he called the court’s decision “seriously wrong.” He said the issue Murphy raised was an important one, but he faulted Murphy for an “inexcusable delay” in raising it.
“If the tactics of Murphy’s attorneys in this case are not inexcusably dilatory, it is hard to know what the concept means,” Alito wrote. He added that the justices are asked to get involved at the last minute in “virtually every execution” and that in the “great majority of cases, no good reason for the late filing is apparent.” He said that by tolerating “such tactics, the Court invites abuse.”
In response, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who previously voted to halt Murphy’s execution and said Murphy had not delayed , issued another statement. Despite “greatly” respecting Alito’s position, he disagreed. He pointed out that after the court’s decision, Texas changed its policy so that no religious ministers are allowed in the execution room, only an adjacent viewing chamber. Kavanaugh called that a “prompt resolution.”
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Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jessicagresko Read More Expo Square to improve main entrance Expo Square has announced plans to rebuild the main entrance to the county fairgrounds, including improvements to the iconic Golden Driller statue. Plans call for reconfiguring the plaza, adding lanes for quick drop-offs and pick-ups of passengers, and moving vehicle traffic further away from the building. “Our front door, our very front door at 21st (Street) and Pittsburgh (Avenue) where our driller stands, that hasn’t been taken care of or repainted since 1966, when it was first put together,” Expo Square CEO and President Mark Andrus told KRMG Monday. He says the new configuration will look better, and work better, as well as being safer for visitors. The driller statue will get new lighting, some kind of kiosk or other signage with information about its history and statistics, and areas set aside for people to safely and easily get photos. Money for the project will largely come from Vision Tulsa funds approved by county voters, he said, and he estimates it will cost between $1.5 million and $1.8 million. He said work will begin in November following the state fair and the U.S. National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show, two of the venue’s largest annual events. They expect to wrap up the work by spring of 2020. State revenue continues to rise Oklahoma State Treasurer Randy McDaniel said Monday that April revenue to the state treasury shows continued growth in the economy. McDaniel says the state collected $1.6 billion, up $177.9 million, or 12.7%, from April 2018. Gross revenue totals $13.4 billion from the past 12 months. That is $1.5 billion, or 12.3%, more than from the previous 12 months. However, he says there are warning signs for the future. The treasurer noted that a monthly survey of business conditions shows a potential for economic contraction. McDaniel also says Oklahoma housing permits and initial unemployment claims should be watched closely. State revenue includes sales, personal and corporate income taxes; oil and gas production taxes, motor vehicle taxes, and taxes on fuel, tobacco and alcoholic beverages. States bring price fixing suit against generic drug makers Attorneys general from more than 40 states are alleging the nation’s largest generic drug manufacturers conspired to artificially inflate and manipulate prices for more than 100 different generic drugs, including treatments for diabetes, cancer, arthritis and other medical conditions. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Connecticut on Friday, also names 15 individual senior executives responsible for sales, marketing and pricing. Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, a Democrat, said investigators obtained evidence implicating 20 firms. “We have hard evidence that shows the generic drug industry perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud on the American people,” Tong said. “We have emails, text messages, telephone records and former company insiders that we believe will prove a multi-year conspiracy to fix prices and divide market share for huge numbers of generic drugs.” Tong said the investigation had uncovered a primary reason why the cost of health care — and specifically generic prescription drugs — has been so high in this country. The surging prices of prescription drugs have drawn the attention of a number of politicians across the political spectrum from President Donald Trump to liberal Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. The new court suit was the second that has been filed in the investigation. The first, filed in 2016, named 18 corporate defendants and two individual defendants. Two former drug company executives entered into settlement agreements and are cooperating with the attorneys general in the investigation. American Airlines pilot arrested in 2015 triple murder A pilot with an American Airlines subsidiary was arrested early Saturday morning at Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport on murder charges, according to news reports. >> Read more trending news Christian Richard Martin, 51, was indicted by a grand jury Friday in a triple homicide in 2015 in Christian County, Kentucky, according to WDRB-TV. He’s facing three counts of murder, a count of arson and a count of attempted arson, among other charges. Investigators said Martin killed three people identified as Calvin Phillips, his wife, Pamela Phillips, and another man, Edward Dansereau, sometime around Nov. 15, WDRB reported. Phillips was found shot to death in his home. Pamela Phillips and Dansereau were found dead in a burned-out car a few miles away. >> Trending: 8-year-old college student dies after fall in Alabama gorge Authorities allege Martin relocated from Christian County to North Carolina after the murders. He is a pilot for PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, and has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. American Airlines officials issued a statement on the Martin case that said in part that they were “saddened” by the allegations. >> Trending: Alyssa Milano calls for “sex strike” in protest of Georgia’s strict anti-abortion bill “We have an unwavering commitment to the safety and security of our customers and team members, and will provide any investigative assistance possible to law enforcement throughout their investigation,” the statement said. Georgia heart patients donating used pacemakers to save pets’ lives Georgia heart patients are donating their used pacemakers to pets. >> Read more trending news An 11-year-old husky is alive today because of one of those used devices. The first of those used pacemakers was donated to the University of Georgia’s veterinarian school by a cardiac nurse years after she lost her own dog to heart failure. “I’m such a dog enthusiast,” Terri Matula said. Before becoming a cardiac nurse, Matula had a broken heart she couldn’t mend: that of her cocker spaniel, Gator. Gator needed an expensive pacemaker to save his life, but Matula and her husband were in college and money was tight. They couldn’t afford it. “Eventually Gator died from complications due to congestive heart failure,” Matula said. Years later, another heart needed mending: the one belonging to, Matula’s husband. He did get a pacemaker but as his condition changed he needed a new device. Used pacemakers are typically thrown away. “I told the cardiologist I wanted to keep his old device because I thought about Gator,” Matula said. She called the University of Georgia’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital with a unique donation: Could her husband’s used pacemaker help a pet in need? “Animals actually use the same pacemakers that are in people,” said UGA veterinary cardiologist Dr. Gregg Rapoport. Not only did UGA take Matula’s pacemaker, they’ve partnered with Matula ‘s hospital, Navicent Health, to take any pacemaker donated from cardiac patients. Rapoport said those donations offset the cost of a procedure that can costs thousands. “She saw the potential value for animals in developing a relationship with a veterinary institution and it’s been incredibly rewarding working with her and developing that relationship,” Rapoport said. Since the program started in 2018, people have donated more than 40 pacemakers. Doctors are not only putting them in dogs, they’ve also implanted them in cats, a horse and even a ferret. One of those dogs was Matty Goldstein’s 11-year-old husky, Agent Cooper. “Agent Cooper had a third-degree heart block,” Goldstein said. “They said the heart was going to stop beating within days or months and we would lose him.” Vets at UGA discovered Agent Cooper’s heart block while treating him for thyroid cancer. Goldstein said he didn’t ask a lot of questions when vets said a used pacemaker would save his dog’s life. “I thought I was going to lose my dog, and to my wife and I, they are our children,” Goldstein said. “They told me they could do it. I said OK.” Matula said the partnership between Navicent Health and UGA is a fitting tribute to Gator. Not one Navicent heart patient has said no to donating their used pacemakers. “It makes them feel like (with) the situation they’re going through, which is not necessarily so pleasant, there’s a silver lining,” she said. President Trump says he may slap more tariffs on China Not showing any concern about a big Monday sell off on Wall Street fueled by worries about a U.S.-China trade dispute, President Donald Trump dug in his heels on Monday with Beijing, threatening to slap tariffs on another $325 billion in imports from China, arguing that the U.S. economy will prevail in any extended trade conflict. ‘We’re in a great position right now,’ President Trump told reporters at the White House, as he said if China continues to retaliate against U.S. industries with additional market barriers and tariffs, there will be a stiff response. ‘We have the right to another $325 billion at 25 percent in additional tariffs,’ Mr. Trump said, just hours after China announced it would add tariffs to $60 billion of American exports to the Chinese, as the trade tit-for-tat roiled Wall Street for much of Monday. ‘I love the position we’re in,’ as the President seemed to revel in the trade brinkmanship. The President acknowledged that retaliation by China isn’t coming painlessly, as he confirmed reports that the feds would be offering farmers billions in aid to deal with lost markets. “We love our farmers, we take care of our farmers,” the President said. Last year, the President authorized $12 billion in bailout payments to farmers to help ease the pain of lost markets due to retaliatory tariffs. Mr. Trump said Monday that this round could be as much as $15 billion. “Our farmers are going to be very well taken care of,” the President added. But among farm state Senators, there was clearly concern. The Trump Administration wasted no time on the threat of additional tariffs, posting a 142 page rundown of the Chinese products which would face additional tariffs when imported into the U.S. Trump defends tariffs as U.S. brings in billions in new revenues A day after his top economic adviser conceded that American companies and consumers would be paying for new tariffs levied on several hundred billion dollars of imports from China, President Donald Trump on Monday defended his latest trade moves against Beijing, as some GOP lawmakers said the tariffs amounted to nothing more than a new tax. In a series of Monday morning posts on Twitter, President Trump said there was ‘no reason’ consumers should have to pay higher prices for the Chinese goods, arguing they should seek out imports from other nations, or buy American instead. On Sunday, the President’s top economic adviser acknowledged that President Trump has been wrongly saying that China would be paying for the new import duties – instead, the American companies buying those items would pay the extra tariffs, with billions in extra revenues going to Uncle Sam, and higher costs possibly being passed on to consumers. ‘These massive payments go directly to the Treasury of the U.S.,’ the President acknowledged last week – as the amount of import duties being collected by the U.S. Government should grow even more with the decision to increase tariffs from 10 to 25 percent on some $250 billion in imported Chinese products. The aggressive emphasis by Mr. Trump to levy new tariffs on China, as well as tariffs on imported steel and aluminum has already had a direct impact on Uncle Sam’s bottom line, as the amount of import duties collected so far in 2019 is almost double where it was a year ago. Figures released last Friday by the Treasury Department show through April, the feds have collected $39.3 billion in import duties – that’s up from $21.8 billion at the same point in 2018. For many economists and lawmakers, tariffs are no different than taxes. ‘Every time you hear about U.S.-imposed tariffs, remember that they are taxes on Americans,’ said Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI). ‘@POTUS is boasting that he loves collecting big taxes on Americans.’ ‘Trump’s tariffs will only lead to higher consumer prices for ordinary Americans,’ said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA). President Trump last week predicted the latest round of tariffs on Chinese imports would bring in $100 billion to the U.S. Treasury – and that’s a red flag for Republicans, who worry it might get in the way of GOP tax cuts. ‘I know of a big company that told me that the tax cuts specifically helped them but that the tariffs are almost equal in punishing them,’ Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on ABC’s This Week. And as more in tariffs are being paid – it also raises the question of whether that will impact consumers. But the other option to increasing tariffs is one which President Trump repeatedly presses – the decision of buying items made in the U.S. – as the higher cost of imports from other nations would make higher-priced American products more competitive. It’s a protectionist type of argument which runs counter to what the Republican Party has backed for decades. The Wall Street Journal editorial board last year said, ‘Mr. Trump may be the first openly protectionist President since Hoover.’ “Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-Tariffed countries,” Mr. Trump tweeted, as all sides will get to watch what happens in coming months in terms of economic impacts, if this trade war continues. The Treasury Department estimates the U.S. will collect over $69 billion in tariffs in 2019 – up from $41 billion in 2018, and $34.5 billion in 2017. Both parties grumble over slow release of disaster aid by Trump Administration In the midst of the ongoing partisan battle over action in Congress on a new package of relief aid for Americans hit hard by hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes and other disasters, there is strong bipartisan agreement on one thing – that the Trump Administration has been slow-walking billions of dollars in disaster relief already approved by the Congress. And members of both parties are getting increasingly aggravated. ‘Congress is tired of the administration’s delays,’ said Rep. David Price (D-NC). ‘There’s no time to waste,’ said Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), as he joined nine Republican Senators in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and the Carolinas in sending a letter Friday night asking for the Administration to release already money approved by Congress in 2017 and 2018. The complaints about bureaucratic delays by the Trump Administration have been building for months, and involve $16 billion in what’s known as disaster mitigation funds. Texas is in line to get $4.3 billion in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Puerto Rico is set to receive $8.2 billion. North Carolina is waiting for $1.1 billion. Florida would get $550 million in disaster mitigation money. Lawmakers were recently assured by HUD Secretary Ben Carson that the money would be released on May 1. But it didn’t happen – as lawmakers pointed the finger at the White House, and the Office of Management and Budget for the delay. ‘This is nothing more than bureaucracy at its worst,’ said Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) earlier this year, as he’s tried for months to unlock $250 million in flood relief aid for his Louisiana district. “Every deadline they give us, every date they give us turns out to be erroneous,’ Rep. David Rouzer (R-NC) told reporters back in his home district about delays in getting aid approved by Congress after Hurricane Matthew in 2016, and Hurricane Florence in 2018. ‘I’m just tired of it.’ While debate in the House on Friday on $19.1 billion in new disaster aid was somewhat partisan – spurred by the President’s demand that GOP lawmakers oppose the bill – there was one point of bipartisan agreement on an amendment to force the Trump Administration to release disaster money already been approved by Congress. ‘In February of 2018, this body appropriated more than $4 billion to Texas,’ said Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-TX). ‘But nearly a year and a half after those appropriations were made, those funds have not arrived.” While most of the votes on the disaster bill were mainly along partisan lines, this one from Fletcher was not – as the House voted 393-20 to demand that the White House release the rules governing the aid money, which will then allow those billions to paid out. ‘Four billion dollars are important dollars, and to have that delay really hinders those who are suffering now,’ said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), as this money was approved after Hurricane Harvey hit Texas and Louisiana in 2017. For months, Democrats have accused the Trump Administration of slow-walking aid to Puerto Rico – but it’s clear the complaints are about more than just the island’s recovery from Hurricane Maria in 2017. Congress has approved $41 billion in aid for Puerto Rico; about $12 billion has actually been sent to the island. Another $8.2 billion can be released once the feds publish the rules governing the use of those funds. But deadlines have come and gone for the publication of those details, and the money remains on hold, in Washington, D.C. “We need the help ASAP,” said Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX). With record revenues, Uncle Sam has $160 billion April surplus With many Americans waiting until the last minute to pay their income tax bills, the federal government notched another good April financially, as the Treasury Department reported a $160 billion monthly budget surplus, putting the budget deficit for 2019 at $530.8 billion. Revenues totaled $535.5 billion in April – a record for the U.S. Government – up from $510 billion in April of 2018. Individual income taxes so far this year are up slightly from a year earlier; corporate taxes are down about the same amount. The size of the surplus in April was smaller than a year ago, when the feds ran $214 billion into the black. So far in 2019, the feds have seen revenues increase by $35 billion from the same point a year ago – about half of that increase is because of higher tariffs on imports levied by the Trump Administration. While the news was good in April on the budget, the longer term trend continues to be for more red ink, as this latest report predicted the deficit for 2019 would end up at nearly $1.1 trillion. The Congressional Budget Office still estimates this year’s deficit will not reach $1 trillion – last seen in 2012 during the Obama Administration – but the CBO forecasts multiple years of deficits over the $1 trillion mark after 2020. The good surplus numbers in April were part of a series of positive economic indicators for the U.S. last month, as 263,000 jobs were created by U.S. businesses, with the jobless rate dropping to 3.6 percent, the lowest rate since December of 1969. Also, initial estimates of the growth in Gross Domestic Product for the first quarter of this year came in at 3.2 percent, leading Republicans from the President on down to say was evidence that the economy is moving in the right direction. ‘Our country is doing well,’ President Trump said earlier this month. ‘We’re very proud of that fact.’ But for the small growth in revenues this year, the jump in GDP, and the surplus numbers in April – one of the biggest red flags continues to be the size of the federal deficit. Budget watchdog groups continue to warn that the size of the federal deficit should not be approaching $1 trillion. ‘The President and Congress should work together to address our unsustainable debt, not paper over and add to it,’ said the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. Earlier this week, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that federal deficits would total $9.9 trillion over the next ten years – basically, $1 trillion per year. The federal debt currently stands at over $22 trillion. The last time the feds ran a surplus for an entire year was in 2001. Ignoring Trump, House approves new disaster aid bill Brushing aside opposition from the White House, the U.S. House gave bipartisan approval on Friday to $19 billion in relief aid to help Americans hit by hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, and other disasters, though the vote brought Congress seemingly no closer to final agreement on a plan, as President Donald Trump continues to publicly object to extra disaster relief for the island of Puerto Rico. ‘Those impacted have their patience stretched thin and cannot wait any longer for disaster assistance,’ said Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA), as a parade of lawmakers from both parties urged approval of aid for floods in the Midwest, wildfires in California, and hurricane damage in the southeast. ‘It should not be taking this long to provide the necessary and vital funding for these locations,’ said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). ‘Mr. Speaker, Nebraskans need relief,’ said Rep. Adrian Smith (R-NE) about major floods this spring. ‘The impact of this storm continues to be felt across our state.’ ‘It is unfortunate that our colleagues in the Senate have not acted,’ said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), as Democrats approved a $14 billion disaster aid bill back in January – which has been stuck in the Senate for almost four months, mainly because of the President’s opposition to extra aid for Puerto Rico. Thursday night, and again on Friday morning, President Trump urged GOP lawmakers in the House to vote against the disaster relief bill – even though it would help many in their own districts and states. The President gave no examples of what he opposed in the bill – other than his repeated complaints about the amount of money approved for Puerto Rico, to help recover from hurricane damage in 2017. Congress has approved $41 billion for Puerto Rico; the Trump Administration has sent $13 billion of that money to the island. This latest bill from the House contained $600 million in specific food aid for Puerto Rico. ‘The President has said he’s not going to sign it,’ said House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), who saw a number of Republicans break ranks with the White House, and vote for the bill. Despite the President’s opposition, Republicans joined with Democrats to add hundreds of millions of dollars to the bill on Friday to help rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, and make major repairs at Marine Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. ‘The United States Air Force is in desperate need of our help,’ said Rep. Neal Dunn (R-FL), whose district includes Tyndall Air Force Base, which was decimated by Hurricane Michael. ‘In my district, we have three million acres of land that is crushed – crushed,’ Dunn said on the House floor, who said the storm was more like an 80 mile wide tornado. ‘This was one of the most destructive weather events in our lifetimes,’ said Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE), who joined in adding money to help with Offutt Air Force Base in him home state. ‘It’s pretty jarring to stand on a ridge and look at an Air Force Base one third under water,’ Fortenberry said of the flooding which hit Iowa, Nebraska and other states. By voice vote, the House approved an extra $300 million in military construction money for the Air Force, $385 million for the Marines, and added $270 million in operations and maintenance money for the Air Force – all to deal with cleanup and repairs at Tyndall and Offutt. “This is only a down payment,” Dunn said. The House also voted to add $5 million to help improve weather forecasting efforts to deal with future storms – but that vote was almost all along party lines. What’s next remains unclear, as Democratic leaders said the Senate should simply approve this bill, regardless of the President’s opposition. ‘I urge the Senate to take up this bill and send it to the President without any further delay,’ said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. Republicans in the Senate made a new offer Thursday night in ongoing negotiations over a disaster aid bill, which Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said included ‘billions’ more in aid for Puerto Rico. But there were no signs that either the new House bill – or the new GOP offer – had broken the logjam on aid. ‘They’ve waited long enough and, frankly, they can’t afford to wait any longer,’ said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY).