In First Public Decision as Justice, Sotomayor Votes to Stay Execution

U.S. SUPREME COURT



August 18, 2009

By Debra Cassens Weiss

In her first public vote on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sonia 
Sotomayor has dissented from a decision to allow an execution to 
proceed.

Sotomayor dissented along with Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader 
Ginsburg and John Paul Stevens, SCOTUSblog reports. The majority 
permitted the execution of Ohio death-row inmate Jason Getsy, 
scheduled for today.

Getty had sought to challenge Ohio’s process for lethal injections, 
the Associated Press reports.

Sotomayor did not participate in an earlier order requiring a federal 
court hearing for death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, who contends 
the Eighth Amendment bars his execution because he is innocent. Seven 
of nine witnesses at Davis’ trial for killing a police officer have 
recanted their testimony, and the case has attracted international 
attention.

http://www.abajournal.com/news/
in_first_public_decision_as_justice_sotomayor_votes_to_stay_execution/