Bosse v. Oklahoma
U.S. Supreme Court · decided October 11, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- October 11, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2016
- Vote
- 8–0
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party lost
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
PER CURIAM. In Booth v. Maryland, 482 U.S. 496, 107 S.Ct. 2529, 96 L.Ed.2d 440 (1987), this Court held that "the Eighth Amendment prohibits a capital sentencing jury from considering victim impact evidence" that does not "relate directly to the circumstances of the crime." Id., at 501-502, 507, n. 10, 107 S.Ct. 2529. Four years later, in Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U.S. 808, 111 S.Ct. 2597, 115 L.Ed.2d 720 (1991), the Court granted certiorari to reconsider that ban on " 'victim impact' evidence relating to the personal characteristics of the victim and the emotional impact of the crimes on the victim's family." Id., at 817, 111 S.Ct. 2597. The Court held that Booth was wrong to conclude that the Eighth Amendment required such a ban. Payne, 501 U.S. at 827, 111 S.Ct. 2597. That holding was expressly "limited to" this particular type of victim impact testimony. Id., at 830, n. 2, 111 S.Ct. 2597. "Booth also held that the admission of a victim's family members' characterizations and opinions about the crime, the defendant, and the appropriate sentence violates the Eighth Amendment," but no such evidence was presented in Payne, so the Court had no occasion to reconsider that aspect of the decision. Ibid. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has held that Payne "implicitly overruled that portion of Booth regarding characterizations of the defendant and opinions of the sentence."…
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