Johnson v. Texas, 509 U.S. 350, 3 (1993)

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352

JOHNSON v. TEXAS

Opinion of the Court

relevant; and remove the States' power to structure the consideration of mitigating evidence under, e. g., Boyde. Pp. 366-373.

773 S. W. 2d 322, affirmed.

Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and White, Scalia, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., post, p. 373, and Thomas, J., post, p. 374, filed concurring opinions. O'Connor, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Blackmun, Stevens, and Souter, JJ., joined, post, p. 374.

Michael E. Tigar argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Robert C. Owen and Jeffrey J. Pokorak.

Dana E. Parker, Assistant Attorney General of Texas, argued the cause for respondent. With her on the brief were Dan Morales, Attorney General, Will Pryor, First Assistant Attorney General, Mary F. Keller, Deputy Attorney General, and Michael P. Hodge, Assistant Attorney General.*

Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

For the second time this Term, we consider a constitutional challenge to the former Texas capital sentencing system. Like the condemned prisoner in Graham v. Collins, 506 U. S. 461 (1993), the petitioner here claims that the Texas special issues system in effect until 1991 did not allow his jury to give adequate mitigating effect to evidence of his youth. Graham was a federal habeas corpus proceeding where the petitioner had to confront the rule of Teague v. Lane, 489 U. S. 288 (1989), barring the application of new rules of law on federal habeas corpus. In part because the relief sought by Graham would have required a new rule within the meaning of Teague, we denied relief. The instant case comes to us on direct review of petitioner's conviction and sentence, so we consider it without the constraints of Teague, though of course with the customary respect for the

*Kent S. Scheidegger filed a brief for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation as amicus curiae urging affirmance.

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