The number of Supreme Court justices who have spoken out against the death penalty after retiring is staggering; so many seem to look back and wonder whether any of the capital cases they debated or rejected without considering made any sense or any difference.

Here’s John Paul Stevens, whose one regret is voting to reinstate the death penalty in the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision:

“I thought at the time … that if the universe of defendants eligible for the death penalty is sufficiently narrow so that you can be confident that the defendant really merits that severe punishment, that the death penalty was appropriate,” he says. But, over the years, “the court constantly expanded the cases eligible for the death penalty, so that the underlying premise for my vote has disappeared, in a sense.”

…

“I really think that the death penalty today is vastly different from the death penalty that we thought we were authorizing,” Stevens said. “And I think if the procedures had been followed that we expected to be in place, I think I probably would’ve still had the same views.”

Now if we could just find a few justices who wouldn’t mind voicing their opposition to the death penalty while they still hold a seat on the Supreme Court, maybe we’d get somewhere …

Full article here.