This morning the Supreme Court handed down Whorton v. Bockting, unanimously reversing the Ninth Circuit (surprise!) and holding that Crawford v. Washington claims are non-retroactive under Teague v. Lane.
What does this mean, you’re wondering? Well, here’s a really simplified version. In 2004, the Supreme Court expanded the meaning of the right to confront witnesses at criminal trials; today, the Supreme Court held that if you were convicted of a crime before 2004 you can’t rely on the 2004 decision to try to get out of jail.
Justice Alito wrote the opinion of the Court. It’s a pretty clean and straightforward decision, just over 13 pages long.