Jones v. Smith, Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections, Et Al.

Background

A man on death row asked the Court for a last-minute halt to his execution scheduled for March 21, 1986. He says that during jury selection one prospective juror was excluded because she opposed the death penalty, and that this exclusion denied him an impartial jury and a jury drawn from the community. Lower courts and the Court of Appeals denied relief, and a related case is pending before this Court.

Reasoning

The central question was whether excluding jurors for their opposition to the death penalty unfairly skewed the jury against the defendant. The Court denied the application for a stay of execution. The written order does not detail new legal reasoning; it follows the lower courts’ findings that the prisoner’s claims were procedurally barred, that he had abused the writ, and that the claims lacked merit. As a result, the State’s schedule for the execution stands and the prisoner’s request to pause it was refused.

Real world impact

The denial allows the execution to go forward on the scheduled date unless another court acts. The decision is an emergency procedural ruling, not a full final judgment on the underlying legal claims, and the related case before the Court could affect how jury exclusions for death-penalty views are treated in the future. Two Justices would have granted the stay, showing disagreement among the Justices.

Dissents or concurrances

Two Justices dissented: one argued that the death penalty is always unconstitutional and would vacate the sentence; another emphasized the identical pending case and criticized the Court for inconsistent handling of similar last-minute requests, urging a stay.