Yesterday, The Supreme Court released an order in Berry v. Mississippi. In an unusual move, the Court denied Earl Berry’s stay for execution and proceeded to briefly explain their decision:

The judgment of the Mississippi Supreme Court relies upon an adequate and independent state ground that deprives the Court of jurisdiction.

The Supreme Court has now granted a stay in Emmett v. Johnson, affirmed the Eight Circuit’s decision to grant a stay in Norris v. Jones, and denied a stay in yesterday’s case.

In Norris v. Jones, Justice Scalia filed a dissenting order in which he declared that “the grant of certiorari in a single case does not alter the application of normal rules of procedure.” He rejected the idea that the Court’s acceptance of Baze v. Rees granted a blanket stay against all lethal injections.

It will be interesting to see how the Court proceeds over the next few months in dealing with petition’s for stay of execution. It’s currently divided position indicates that we will have to wait before we see a final resolution to this issue.

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