Cite as: 506 U. S. 461 (1993)
Thomas, J., concurring
Penry held that the Texas special issues did not allow a jury to "consider and give effect to" mitigating evidence of mental retardation and childhood abuse, 492 U. S., at 328, because, even though the defendant had a full and unfettered opportunity to present such evidence to the jury, the evidence had "relevance to [Penry's] moral culpability beyond the scope of the special issues," id., at 322 (emphasis added). Thus, the Court was persuaded that the jury might have been "unable to express its 'reasoned moral response' to that evidence in determining whether death was the appropriate punishment." Ibid. (emphasis added). See post, at 518- 519. Contrary to the dissent's view, see post, at 506-512, these notions—that a defendant may not be sentenced to death if there are mitigating circumstances whose relevance goes "beyond the scope" of the State's sentencing criteria, and that the jury must be able to express a "reasoned moral response" to all evidence presented—have no pedigree in our prior holdings. They originated entirely from whole cloth in two recent concurring opinions. See Franklin, supra, at 185 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment); California v. Brown, 479 U. S. 538, 545 (1987) (O'Connor, J., concurring).
Together, these notions render meaningless any rational standards by which a State may channel or focus the jury's discretion and thus negate the central tenet of Furman and all our death penalty cases since 1972. Penry imposes as a constitutional imperative "a scheme that simply dumps before the jury all sympathetic factors bearing upon the defendant's background and character, and the circumstances of the offense, so that the jury may decide without further guidance" whether the defendant deserves death. Penry, 492 U. S., at 359 (Scalia, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part). "It is an unguided, emotional 'moral response' that the Court demands be allowed—an outpouring of personal reaction to all the circumstances of a defendant's life and personality, an unfocused sympathy." Ibid. Justice Souter's reading of Penry bears out these fears. His dis-
493
Page: Index Previous 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007