Cite as: 503 U. S. 222 (1992)
Souter, J., dissenting
"[I]n deciding this case we do not express any opinion concerning the possible significance of a holding that a particular aggravating circumstance is 'invalid' under a statutory scheme in which the judge or jury is specifically instructed to weigh statutory aggravating and mitigating circumstances in exercising its discretion whether to impose the death penalty." 462 U. S., at 890.
I agree that this statement would have put a reasonable jurist on notice that Stephens' rule might not apply to a weighing State, but the answer to the question reserved was no foregone conclusion. It is worth remembering that the Georgia jury in Stephens was instructed simply to "conside[r]" all aggravating and mitigating evidence, see id., at 871, leaving it with what the respondent described as "unbridled discretion" at the final stage of sentencing, id., at 875, which this Court found to be no violation of the Eighth Amendment, id., at 875-880. If unguided discretion created no risk of randomness, it was hardly obvious that this risk arose when a vague aggravating circumstance was weighed. To conclude after Stephens that the outcome in Cartwright and Clemons was dictated is a leap of reason.
The leap lengthens when one considers Barclay, for I think a reasonable jurist, in 1985, could have concluded that this Court resolved the question reserved in Stephens when it decided Barclay, which strongly implied that the Stephens principle applied to weighing States like Florida. See 463 U. S., at 957 (plurality opinion); id., at 966-967 (Stevens, J., concurring in judgment). The majority attempts to minimize Barclay by saying that the Barclay Court upheld the sentence "only because it was clear that the Florida Supreme Court had determined that the sentence would have been the same had the sentencing judge given no weight to the invalid factor." Ante, at 231 (citing 463 U. S., at 958 (plurality opinion)). But I do not think Barclay can be explained away so easily.
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