AP story on Judge Boyce Martin / US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals infighting over death penalty

Saturday, 06 January 2007

AP story on Judge Boyce Martin / US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals infighting over death penalty: Terry Kinney has this AP story, entitled "Appellate court's longest-serving judge battles death penalty."

Excerpt:
A veteran federal appeals judge has turned up the volume in his opposition to the death penalty, drawing increasing attention with his unusually blunt and outspoken opinions.

Former Chief Judge Boyce Martin, a Jimmy Carter appointee on one of the most sharply divided appeals courts, is building a reputation for his stand, such as with a dissent that Capital Defense Weekly described as blistering.

Some experts believe the U.S. Supreme Court is watching what's happening in the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and other circuits before it takes another look at the death penalty or, at least, the use of lethal injection, which is increasingly being challenged in lawsuits. Martin, a liberal voice in a court with a Republican-appointed majority, has frustrated some colleagues and family members of murder victims, while adding to arguments by anti-death penalty groups such as the Death Penalty Information Center.

The center has pointed to a 2005 dissent in which Martin noted that he had been an appeals court judge for more than 25 years and that "only one conclusion is possible ... The death penalty in this country is arbitrary, biased and so fundamentally flawed at its very core that it is beyond repair."

...At age 71, with an appointment for life and no plans to retire, Martin says he has become more willing to express his views, candidly.

"My oath requires me to apply the law as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States," he wrote in a 2005 opinion. "I will continue to do as I am told until the Supreme Court concludes that the death penalty cannot be administered in a constitutional manner or our legislatures abolish the penalty.

"But lest there be any doubt, the idea that the death penalty is fairly and rationally imposed in this country is a farce."

Some recent posts further illustrating the internal warfare going on (involving several judges) within the US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals over the handling of death penalty cases:

• Conflicting court rulings in lawsuit challenging Ohio lethal-injection protocol
• Spirko attorneys appeal denial of stay of exectuion.
• Kenneth Biros granted stay of execution (and here).
• Where is the Ohio media coverage of heightened lethal-inejection controversy?
• Misleading media reports on oral arguments to be heard in Ohio lethal-injection challenge case.
• Spirko motion for stay of execution denied for 2nd time in US District Ct / Judge Frost admonishes US 6th Circuit over contradictory rulings.
• 6th Circuit upholds stay of execution for Jerome Henderson.
• US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals has overturned stay of execution for Jeffrey Lundgren.
• Dewaine Poindexter death sentence thrown out by US 6th Circuit Ct of Appeals / New trial denied / Boggs, Daughtrey dueling concurrences