Today in Supreme Court History: October 4

Buntion v. Lumpkin,142 S.Ct. 3 (decided October 4, 2021): stay of execution denied; Breyer doesn’t dissent but notes the “serious legal and practical problem with the death penalty as it is currently administered”; in 1890 the Court said waiting on death row for even four weeks was “one of the more horrible feelings to which a person can be subjected”, and Buntion had been on death row for 30 years, which is in itself cruel and unusual punishment (Buntion, age 78 and infirm, wasn’t executed for another 6 months due to illness; murder of cop was revenge for death of his twin brother during a police shootout)