Today in Supreme Court History: July 20

Califano v. McRae, 434 U.S. 1301 (decided July 20, 1977): Marshall turns down request to stay the Court’s previous order allowing the Medicaid abortion ban to go into effect; movants are essentially asking a rehearing of two recent Court decisions allowing states to have their own bans on public funding for abortions, and Marshall dissented in those cases; Marshall points out that a request for rehearing must be directed at a judge who voted in the majority (so that means you can’t ever move for a rehearing if the judge for your Circuit happened to be a dissenter?)

Hedrick v. Kelly, 548 U.S. 928 (decided July 20, 2006): denying stay of execution (Stevens and Ginsburg would grant the stay); Fourth Circuit had rejected ineffective assistance of counsel claim, and on procedural grounds rejected Brady claim (failure of prosecutor to turn over exculpatory material) and Atkins claim (executing “mentally retarded” is “cruel and unusual”), and substantive claim that he was “mentally retarded”. Hedrick, after an evening of smoking crack and drinking, had kidnapped 23-year-old Lisa Crider, whom he knew to be a crack dealer’s girlfriend and was probably carrying crack, robbed her and raped her, and then shot her in the face to avoid retaliation from the boyfriend. Hedrick was executed the same day as the stay was denied.