182
Stevens, J., dissenting
Justice Stevens, with whom Justice Souter, Justice Ginsburg, and Justice Breyer join, dissenting.
There is an acute unfairness in permitting a State to rely on a recent conviction to establish a defendant's future dangerousness while simultaneously permitting the State to deny that there was such a conviction when the defendant attempts to argue that he is parole ineligible and therefore not a future danger. Even the most miserly reading of the opinions in Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U. S. 154 (1994), supports the conclusion that this petitioner was denied "one of the hallmarks of due process in our adversary system," namely, the defendant's right "to meet the State's case against him." Id., at 175 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment).
I
In Simmons, we held that "[w]hen the State seeks to show the defendant's future dangerousness . . . the defendant should be allowed to bring his parole ineligibility to the jury's attention—by way of argument by defense counsel or an instruction from the court—as a means of responding to the State's showing of future dangerousness." Id., at 177 (O'Connor, J., concurring in judgment). The present case falls squarely within our holding.
There is no question that the Commonwealth argued Ramdass' future dangerousness. Ante, at 161. In doing so, it focused almost entirely on Ramdass' extensive criminal history, emphasizing that his most recent crime spree was committed after his mandatory release on parole.1 Indeed,
1 The prosecution's opening argument began by recounting Ramdass' entire criminal history. App. 8-11. Eight of the nine witnesses the Commonwealth called did little more than relate the details of Ramdass' criminal past. Id., at 12-64. The prosecution's closing argument highlighted the connection between Ramdass' crimes and his prior releases from prison. Id., at 80-82. In fact, it did so on several occasions. Id., at 9 (Ramdass "served time [for the 1988 strong arm robbery conviction] and was finally paroled in May of 1992"); id., at 46-47 (Ramdass "was
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