not particularly legalistic argument. he just puts it out there. justice breyer dissenting from stay of execution. quote, arkansas set out to execute eight people, why these eight, why now? the apparent reason has nothg to do with the heinousness of their crimes or the presence of absence of mitigating behavior or mental state or need for speedy punishment. four of the men have been on death row for over 20 years. all have been housed in solitary confinement for ten years. apparently the reason the state decided to proceed is that the use by date on the drug is about to expire. the justice continues, quote, in my view, that factor when considered as a determining factor separating those who live from those who die, that factor is close to random. he says, i have previously noted the arbitrariness with which executions are carried out in
breyer dissented again, short, sharp, and to the point. less than two pages. it s pretty remarkable stuff, not particularly legalistic argument. he just puts it out there. justice breyer, quote, arkansas set out to execute eight people, why these eight, why now? the apparent reason has nothing to do with the crimes or are presence of absence of mitigating behavior or mental state or need for speedy punishment. four of the men have been on death row for over 20 years. all have been housed in sol solitaisolitary confinement for ten years. apparently the state decided to proceed is that the use by date on the drug is about to expire. the justice continues, quote, in my view, that factor when considered as a determining factor separating those who live from those who die, that factor is close to random. he says i have previously noted arbitrariness with which the executions are carried out in
people who weren t too poor, who loved america, who had the right values. all of which in the past have been terms he s used to talk about muslim americans and why he has a problems with muslim immigration. so, if you are one of his supporters who is looking for that, you heard it last night. and to the point about whether he s serious about deporting 11 million people, whether anyone is, i think one of the points is that with the guidance he gave last week that really broadened the categories or priorities, it becomes arbitrary. you never know if you re in that category. you never know if you re good, if you re bad, if what your future is going to be like and that kind of arbitrariness is something that has been an instrument of the trump administration. final word, david. we don t know what his policy is on immigration because he is freelancing as president. and freelancing with different aides that are leaking different things to different reporters for advantage, for advant
now time to reopen the question. which for a supreme court justice is kind of going way out there on a limb. and ari asked him why. sometimes it s the wrong person. often it s very arbitrary as to who gets executed. it s not the worst of the worst. very often. and there are just absolutely arbitrary criteria that shouldn t be in determining who is selected for execution. that it takes years to litigate a matter. so if a person is sentenced to death on average if there is an execution it takes place on average 18 years later. and the number of instances in which there is an execution has fallen dramatically within the united states. there are just a handful of counties where there really are executions. a handful. that s so few. and the risk of arbitrariness is so great. and the risk of the wrong person is enough. and the length of time is so
very often. and there are just absolutely arbitrary criteria that shouldn t be in determining who is selected for execution. that it takes years to litigate a matter. so if a person is sentenced to death on average if there is an execution it takes place on average 18 years later. and the number of instances in which there is an execution has fallen dramatically within the united states. there are just a handful of counties where there really are executions. a handful. that s so few. and the risk of arbitrariness is so great. and the risk of the wrong person is enough. and the length of time is so long. it s like being hit by lightning 40 years later. and all that put together convinced me that there is a good case to be made under the constitutional provision, is it a cruel and unusual punishment? those are the things that are