The Supreme Court today issued an order to show cause, returnable in the Sacramento Superior Court, in Office of the State Public Defender v. Bonta. The writ petition in the case, filed over 25 months ago by the State Public Defender’s office and several civil rights groups and individuals, claims “California’s capital punishment scheme is administered in a racially discriminatory manner” in violation of the state Constitution and it asks for a ruling that “bar[s] the prosecution, imposition, or execution of sentences of death throughout the State of California.”
Over the more than two years the petition has been pending, the justices have conferenced on the matter at least eight times before today. (See here.) There had been no rulings, but the court asked for supplemental briefing on two occasions. (See here and here.)
It’s unclear why the court took so long to order a hearing. But the action does indicate the justices are open to diverging from U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence. The writ petition’s claim of an unconstitutional racially discriminatory death penalty system is based on what it says is “[e]xtensive empirical evidence.” However, the federal high court in McCleskey v. Kemp (1987) 481 U.S. 279 rejected a similar broad, statistics-based equal protection argument, opting instead for determinations of constitutional propriety “on a case-by-case basis.” (Id. at p. 319.)
Related:
Heavyweight writ petition asks Supreme Court to declare death penalty unconstitutional
“California’s death penalty law deserves a vigorous defense”
AG asks for evidentiary hearing on anti-death penalty petition; 2 DAs want the petition denied
Supreme Court sets up possible trials on systemic racism in California’s criminal justice system
