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Tuilaepa Vs. California

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  • US Supreme Court
  • Mar 22, 1994

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73 entries 11 linked 62 unlinked
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  1. Jurek Vs. Texas US Supreme Court · Jul 02, 1976
  2. Proffitt Vs. Florida US Supreme Court · Jul 02, 1976
  3. Wainwright Vs. Goode US Supreme Court · Nov 28, 1983
    Relied / Followed
  4. Stringer Vs. Black US Supreme Court · Dec 09, 1991
  5. Godfrey Vs. Georgia US Supreme Court · May 19, 1980
  6. Espinosa Vs. Florida US Supreme Court · Jun 29, 1992
  7. Sochor Vs. Florida US Supreme Court · Jun 08, 1992
  8. Walton Vs. Arizona US Supreme Court · Jun 27, 1990
  9. Lowenfield Vs. Phelps US Supreme Court · Jan 13, 1988
  10. Maynard Vs. Cartwright US Supreme Court · Jun 06, 1988
  11. Mccleskey Vs. Kemp US Supreme Court · Apr 22, 1987
  12. U.S. 967 (1994) October Term, 1993 Syllabus Tuilaepa V. California
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  13. the circumstances of the crime are a traditional subject for consideration by the sentencer, see, e. g., Woodson v. North
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  14. Together with No. 93-5161, Proctor v. California
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  15. also on certiorari to the same court. 968 Syllabus Court's precedents. See Eddings v. Oklahoma
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  16. questions. The States are not confined to submitting to the jury specific propositional questions, see, e. g., Zant v. Stephens
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  17. a capital sentencer be instructed how to weigh any particular fact in the sentencing decision. See, e. g., California v. Ramos
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  18. penalty, the defendant must be convicted of a crime for which the death penalty is a proportionate punishment. Coker v. Georgia
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  19. or its equivalent) at either the guilt or penalty phase. See, e. g., Lowenfield v. Phelps
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  20. it must apply only to a subclass of defendants convicted of murder. See Arave v. Creech
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  21. Second, the aggravating circumstance may not be unconstitutionally vague. Godfrey v. Georgia
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  22. language defining the circumstance is itself too vague to provide any guidance to the sentencer''') (quoting Walton v. Arizona
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  23. see also Woodson v. North
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  24. relevant mitigating evidence of the character and record of the defendant and the circumstances of the crime. Blystone v. Pennsylvania
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  25. see Johnson v. Texas
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  26. of these two inquiries can be in some tension, at least when the inquiries occur at the same time. See Romano v. Oklahoma
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  27. the process is neutral and principled so as to guard against bias or caprice in the sentencing decision. See Gregg v. Georgia
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  28. see Maynard v. Cartwright
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  29. risk of randomness, the mark of the arbitrary and capricious sentencing process 975 prohibited by Furman v. Georgia
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  30. U. S. 238 (1972). See Stringer v. Black
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  31. special circumstances true. See California v. Ramos
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  32. This again is an unusual challenge in light of our precedents. See Eddings v. Oklahoma
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  33. sentencer need not be instructed how to weigh any particular fact in the capital sentencing decision. In California v. Ramos
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  34. U. S., at 1008-1009, n. 22. Likewise, in Proffitt v. Florida
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  35. is not impermissible in the capital sentencing process. McCleskey v. Kemp
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  36. see also Barclay v. Florida
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  37. per curiam), the distinctive procedural requirements of the Eighth Amendment have been exhausted. See Walton v. Arizona
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  38. as Justice White put it in Jurek v. Texas
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  39. concurring in the judgment. As these cases come to us they present a question that the Court answered in Zant v. Stephens
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  40. factors actually reduces the risk of arbitrary capital sentencing. Prior to the Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia
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  41. and the actual sentencing decision. First, as CHIEF JUSTICE REHNQUIST writing for the Court in Lowenfield v. Phelps
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  42. Id., at 244 (quoting Zant v. Stephens
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  43. of the offense or because its imposition may be influenced by unacceptable factors-is diminished. See McCleskey v. Kemp
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  44. safeguard to protect death-eligible defendants from the arbitrary imposition of the extreme penalty. In Lockett v. Ohio
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  45. that complies with the narrowing requirement defined in Lowenfield v. Phelps
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  46. Woodson v. North
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  47. to my view that the death penalty cannot be imposed fairly within the constraints of our Constitution, see Callins v. Collins
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  48. Whether an aggravator is used for narrowing, or for weighing, or for both, it cannot be impermissibly vague. See Arave v. Creech
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  49. Stringer, 503 U. S., at 229-230, we have not subjected aggravating circumstances to a vagueness analysis. See Zant v. Stephens
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  50. on death's side of the scale, so we analyze aggravators for clarity, objectivity, and principled guidance. See Maynard v. Cartwright
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