Monday’s flurry of opinions included a fascinating decision in Roper v. Weaver, a capital case that the Court apparently took to correct a somewhat wacky application of AEDPA from the Eighth Circuit. The case was briefed and argued, and on Tuesday the Court decided to DIG the case — dismiss it as improvidently granted — on essentially equitable grounds. In other similar cases, including one involving the respondent’s co-defendant, AEDPA didn’t apply and relief was granted. To avoid a likelihood of having to apply AEDPA — and, one assumes, to deny relief — the Court decided to dismiss the writ and let the Eighth Circuit decision stand to make sure that the similar set of cases received similar results.
Justice Scalia, joined by Thomas and Alito, let’em have it in a dissenting opinion. It’s worth reading in full, but the conclusion is particularly pointed:
A postscript is warranted in light of the unusual circumstances in which we dispose of this case. The greatest harm done by today’s cancellation is not to the State of Missouri, which will have to retry this murder case almost two decades after the original trial