824
Blackmun, J., dissenting
Justice Souter would deny the application to vacate the stay.
Justice Blackmun, with whom Justice Stevens joins, dissenting.
The Court errs twice in granting the State's application to vacate the Court of Appeals' stay of execution. First, it errs by affording insufficient deference to the Court of Appeals' decision. Second, it errs by letting stand the District Court's decision, which was itself erroneous.
I
"The standard under which we consider motions to vacate stays of execution is deferential, and properly so. Only when the lower courts have clearly abused their discretion in granting a stay should we take the extraordinary step of overturning such a decision." Dugger v. Johnson, 485 U. S. 945, 947 (1988) (O'Connor, J., joined by Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting). Accord, Barefoot v. Estelle, 463 U. S. 880, 896 (1983); Wainwright v. Spenkelink, 442 U. S. 901, 905 (1979) (Rehnquist, J., dissenting). In this case, the Court of Appeals granted a temporary stay of execution to allow it time properly to consider Blair's appeal. In my view, its decision to do so does not constitute an abuse of discretion.
The State likens this case to Delo v. Stokes, 495 U. S. 320 (1990), in which this Court vacated a stay of execution because the prisoner's habeas petition "clearly constitute[d] an abuse of the writ." Id., at 321. Although the habeas petition currently before the Court of Appeals is Blair's third, the abuse of the writ doctrine cannot serve as the basis for vacating this stay. Blair's principal contention in his federal habeas petition is that he is actually innocent, and this Court has recognized an exception to the abuse of the writ doctrine where a habeas petitioner can show that he probably is innocent. See McCleskey v. Zant, 499 U. S. 467, 495 (1991).
Page: Index Previous 1 2 3 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007