172
Souter, J., concurring
Justice Souter, with whom Justice Stevens joins, concurring.
I join in Justice Blackmun's opinion that, at least when future dangerousness is an issue in a capital sentencing determination, the defendant has a due process right to require that his sentencing jury be informed of his ineligibility for parole. I write separately because I believe an additional, related principle also compels today's decision, regardless of whether future dangerousness is an issue at sentencing.
The Eighth Amendment entitles a defendant to a jury capable of a reasoned moral judgment about whether death, rather than some lesser sentence, ought to be imposed. The Court has explained that the Amendment imposes a heightened standard "for reliability in the determination that death is the appropriate punishment in a specific case," Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U. S. 280, 305 (1976) (plurality opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ.); see also, e. g., Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U. S. 420, 427-428 (1980); Mills v. Maryland, 486 U. S. 367, 383-384 (1988). Thus, it requires provision of "accurate sentencing information [as] an indispensable prerequisite to a reasoned determination of whether a defendant shall live or die," Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U. S. 153, 190 (1976) ( joint opinion of Stewart, Powell, and Stevens, JJ.), and invalidates "procedural rules that ten[d] to diminish the reliability of the sentencing determination," Beck v. Alabama, 447 U. S. 625, 638 (1980).
That same need for heightened reliability also mandates recognition of a capital defendant's right to require instructions on the meaning of the legal terms used to describe the sentences (or sentencing recommendations) a jury is required to consider, in making the reasoned moral choice between sentencing alternatives. Thus, whenever there is a reasonable likelihood that a juror will misunderstand a sentencing term, a defendant may demand instruction on its meaning, and a death sentence following the refusal of such a request
Page: Index Previous 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 NextLast modified: October 4, 2007