Hance v. Zant

Background

A death-row inmate, William Henry Hance, sought an emergency delay of his execution and asked the Justices to review his case. The request was presented to Justice Kennedy and then referred to the full Court. The Court denied the stay request and declined to take up the case, and it vacated a prior order by Justice Kennedy.

Reasoning

The central question was whether the Court should pause the execution and review the inmate’s claims before the sentence was carried out. The Court refused the emergency delay and declined review, so the execution was allowed to proceed. The opinion of the Court is a denial of the requested relief rather than a detailed, written ruling explaining the merits of the claims.

Real world impact

As a result of the denial, the inmate’s scheduled execution may go forward unless another court later intervenes. The Court’s action does not resolve the underlying factual or legal questions about the inmate’s mental disability, mental illness, or allegations of racial prejudice at trial; those issues remain unresolved on the merits.

Dissents or concurrances

Justice Blackmun dissented, arguing there is substantial evidence the inmate is mentally retarded and mentally ill, that racial prejudice may have affected his sentencing, and that a juror later said she would not have voted for death because of his impairments. He would have stayed the execution, granted review, and vacated the death sentence.