CHAPTER FOUR: THE OLD RUGGED CROSS
1 In 91 percent of these cases ...“The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override,” Equal
Justice Initiative ( 2011 ), 4 , available at http://eji.org/eji/files/Override_Report.pdf,
accessed April 30 , 2014.
2 Alabama elects all of its judges ... Billy Corriher, “Partisan Judicial Elections and the
Distorting Influence of Campaign Cash,” Center for American Progress (October 25 , 2012 ),
available at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/civil-liberties/report/ 2012 / 10 / 25 / 42895 /
partisan-judicial-elections-and-the-distorting-influence-of-campaign-cash/, accessed July 8 ,
2013.
3 Judge overrides are an incredibly potent ... In November 2013 , U.S. Supreme Court
Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a blistering critique of Alabama’s continued use of judicial
override to impose death sentences in a dissent from the Court’s decision to not review the
issue. Joined by Justice Breyer, the Justices found serious constitutional defects in both
the politics surrounding judge override and the way it undermines the role of the jury.
Woodward v. Alabama ( 2013 ).
4 it’s not surprising that judge overrides ...“The Death Penalty in Alabama,” 5.
5 As peculiar as the practice is ... Harris v. Alabama, 513 U.S. 504 ( 1995 ); Spaziano v.
Florida, 468 U.S. 447 ( 1984 ).
6 Mr. Dunkins suffered from intellectual disabilities ... See Penry v. Lynaugh, 492 U.S.
302 ( 1989 ).
7 Thirteen years later ... Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 ( 2002 ), explaining that a national
consensus had been reached against executing the mentally ill after state legislatures
adopted new laws limiting the practice following Penry.
8 They killed him ... Peter Applebome, “ 2 Electric Jolts in Alabama Execution,” New York
Times (July 15 , 1989 ), available at http://www.nytimes.com/ 1989 / 07 / 15 /us/ 2 -electric-jolts-in-
alabama-execution.html, accessed April 30 , 2014 ; see also “Two Attempts at Execution
Kill Dunkins,” Gadsden Times (July 14 , 1989 ), available at http://news.google.com/
newspapers?id= 02 cfAAAAIBAJ&sjid= 3 NQEAAAAIBAJ&pg= 3122 % 2 C 1675665 , accessed
April 30 , 2014.
9 The Court decided to bar claims ... Rose v. Lundy, 455 U.S. 509 ( 1982 ).10 the Court rejected a constitutional challenge ... Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361
( 1989 ); Penry, 492 U.S. at 305 ; McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 ( 1987 ).
11 “Let’s get on with it”... Bryan Stevenson, “The Hanging Judges,” The Nation (October 14 ,
1996 ), 12.
12 “Mr. Stevenson, I’m calling to let you know”... Richardson v. Thigpen, 492 U.S. 934
( 1989 ).
13 I thought about the botched execution ... Applebome, “ 2 Electric Jolts in Alabama
Execution.”