968
Syllabus
Court's precedents. See Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U. S. 104, 115-117. While determining the bearing age ought to have in fixing the penalty can pose a dilemma for the jury, difficulty in application is not the equivalent of vagueness. Pp. 971-977. (b) This Court's precedents also foreclose petitioners' remaining arguments. Selection factors need not require answers to factual questions. The States are not confined to submitting to the jury specific propositional questions, see, e. g., Zant v. Stephens, 462 U. S. 862, 878-880, 889, and there is no constitutional problem where an instruction directs consideration of a crime's facts and circumstances. Nor must a capital sentencer be instructed how to weigh any particular fact in the sentencing decision. See, e. g., California v. Ramos, 463 U. S. 992, 1008-1009. Pp. 977-980.
No. 93-5131, 4 Cal. 4th 569, 842 P. 2d 1142, and No. 93-5161, 4 Cal. 4th
499, 842 P. 2d 1100, affirmed.
Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Rehnquist, C. J., and O'Connor, Scalia, Souter, and Thomas, JJ., joined. Scalia, J., post, p. 980, and Souter, J., post, p. 980, filed concurring opinions. Stevens, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment, in which Ginsburg, J., joined, post, p. 981. Blackmun, J., filed a dissenting opinion, post, p. 984.
Howard W. Gillingham, by appointment of the Court, 510 U. S. 1038, argued the cause and filed briefs for petitioner in No. 93-5131. Wendy C. Lascher, by appointment of the Court, 510 U. S. 1038, argued the cause for petitioner in No. 93-5161. With her on the brief was Susan B. Lascher.
Wm. George Prahl, Deputy Attorney General of California, argued the cause for respondent in both cases. With him on the brief were Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, and Dane R. Gillette, Deputy Attorney General.†
†Michael Laurence, Paul L. Hoffman, and Mark Silverstein filed a brief for the American Civil Liberties Union et al. as amici curiae urging reversal in No. 93-5131. Clifford Gardner, Melissa W. Johnson, Gail R. Weinheimer, and Steven W. Parnes filed a brief for the California Appellate Project as amicus curiae urging reversal in both cases.
Kent S. Scheidegger filed a brief for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation as amicus curiae urging affirmance in both cases.
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