Supreme Court Decision Kennedy v. Louisiana in Review

On April 16, 2008, the United States Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Kennedy v. Louisiana, __ U.S.__, 128 S. Ct. 2641 (U.S. 2008). The Court rendered its decision two months later on June 25, 2008. The 65-page decision, in which Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer joined, was delivered by Justice Anthony Kennedy. Justice Samuel Alito filed a dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas joined. The following is a review of the decision.