COUSSENS ET AL. v. CARPENTERS DISTRICT COUNCIL OF DETROIT, UNITED BROTHERHOOD OF CARPENTERS & JOINERS OF AMERICA, AFL-CIO, ET AL.
No. 83-1710
Supreme Court of the United States
January 21, 1985
469 U.S. 1143
No. 83-1908. SHELBY COUNTY SHERIFF‘S DEPARTMENT v. RUIZ, ante, p. 1016;
No. 83-2039. KAVANAGH v. MCSHEA, ante, p. 831;
No. 83-6633. GREEN v. OKLAHOMA, ante, p. 980;
No. 83-6777. RONSON v. COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTION OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, ante, p. 841;
No. 83-6840. SHANNON v. DEROBERTIS, WARDEN, ET AL., ante, p. 931;
No. 83-6996. SMITH v. UNION MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE CO., ante, p. 981;
No. 84-175. SCHREIBER v. GENCORP, INC., ET AL., ante, p. 858;
No. 84-343. GABRIEL v. INTERSTATE COMMERCE COMMISSION ET AL., ante, p. 932;
No. 84-408. CLEAR-VIEW CABLE T. V., INC. v. TOWN OF NARROWS, ante, p. 925;
No. 84-5045. COLLINS v. FRANCIS, WARDEN, ante, p. 963;
No. 84-5170. OWENS v. ILLINOIS, ante, p. 963;
No. 84-5175. OWENS v. ILLINOIS, ante, p. 963; and
No. 84-5292. HATCH v. MASON ET AL., ante, p. 886. Petitions for rehearing denied.
No. 83-2017. CHIN NIEN TSANG v. BOARD OF GOVERNORS OF WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY, ante, p. 830. Petition for writ of mandamus and petition for rehearing denied.
No. 83-6886. VELILLA v. UTC/HAMILTON STANDARD DIVISION ET AL., ante, p. 805. Motion for leave to file petition for rehearing denied.
No. 84-5609 (A-503). GREEN v. ZANT, SUPERINTENDENT, GEORGIA DIAGNOSTIC AND CLASSIFICATION CENTER, ante, p. 1098. Application for stay of execution of sentence of death, presented to JUSTICE POWELL, and by him referred to the Court, denied. Petition for rehearing denied. JUSTICE BLACKMUN and JUSTICE STEVENS dissent and would grant the application for stay
JUSTICE BRENNAN, with whom JUSTICE MARSHALL joins, dissenting.
Adhering to my view that the death penalty is in all circumstances cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the
In his petitions for state and federal habeas relief, the applicant Roosevelt Green, Jr., has unsuccessfully requested evidentiary hearings to substantiate his allegation that he received the death penalty pursuant to a pattern and practice of racial discrimination in the administration of Georgia‘s capital sentencing system. The Eleventh Circuit en banc is currently considering three cases that present the identical issue and turn on the identical statistical evidence. See, e. g., Ross v. Hopper, 716 F. 2d 1528 (1983), rehearing en banc granted, 729 F. 2d 1293 (1984); Spencer v. Zant, 715 F. 2d 1562 (1983), reconsideration en banc stayed, 729 F. 2d 1293 (1984); McCleskey v. Zant, 580 F. Supp. 338 (ND Ga.), hearing en banc granted, 729 F. 2d 1293 (1984). As I argued in November in my dissent in Stephens v. Kemp, ante, at 1058—a case that also hinged on the claims and evidence instantly at issue—“there is at the very least a substantial question whether [the petitioner‘s] fate should be governed by the outcome of the consolidated cases that are now pending before the Eleventh Circuit en banc. . . .” Because “a person should not be executed while the constitutionality of his sentence is in doubt,” Stephens v. Kemp, ante, at 1099 (BRENNAN, J., dissenting), I would accordingly stay Green‘s execution pending the ultimate resolution of Ross, Spencer, and McCleskey.