Supreme Court Watch

Participating by telephone, Ms. Duggin will discuss the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the U.S. Supreme Court. She discussed the nominee’s rulings on habeas corpus, including a 2003 case Williams v. Price. Judge Alito wrote the majority opinion overturning a lower-court ruling that denied a new hearing for Ronald Williams, a defendant convicted of first-degree murder, even after a juror was overheard making a racist remark immediately after the trial. Judge Alito reasoned that the comment, made outside the jury room, had not been justifiably excluded from consideration by the lower court. His opinion granted Williams the right to argue that his imprisonment had been unlawful.

A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court so it can be determined whether or not that person is imprisoned lawfully and whether or not he should be released from custody. Ms. Duggin discussed the impact of Judge Alito’s rulings on f close