The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a Texas death row inmate who said he was unfairly sentenced to death because he is black.
In a 6-2 ruling, inmate Duane Buck will now be able to bring his case back to a lower court and argue for a new sentencing hearing. Buck was sentenced to death after his own lawyers presented testimony at his trial from a psychologist who said he would likely commit violence in the future because he is black.
Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion holding that Buck has “demonstrated both ineffective assistance of counsel” and has an “entitlement to relief.”
“[O]ur holding on prejudice makes clear that Buck may have been sentenced to death in part because of his race,” Roberts wrote. “As an initial matter, this is a disturbing departure from a basic premise of our criminal justice system: Our law punishes people for what they do, not who they are.”
A few weeks after breaking up with his girlfriend in 1995, Buck broke into his ex-girlfriend’s home with a shotgun and a rifle. There, he wounded his step sister and killed another man inside the house before following his ex-girlfriend outside and killing her in front of her children.
During the sentencing phase of his trial, “expert” witness Dr. Walter Quijano was asked by Buck’s defense attorney: “You have determined that the race factor, black, increases the future dangerousness for various complicated reasons; is that correct?”
“Yes,” Quijano replied.
Buck’s attorney at the time allegedly knew that Quijano had a predisposition to believe that someone’s race could contribute to later crimes.
“It’s a sad commentary that minorities — Hispanics and black people — are over-represented in the criminal justice system,” Quijano said.
Justice Clarence Thomas — the only black justice on the court — was joined by Justice Samuel Alito in his dissent.
The two argued that there was evidence to justify the death sentence, citing the “heinousness of petitioner’s crime and his complete lack of remorse.”
“The facts leave no doubt that this crime was pre-meditated and cruel,” they wrote. “The shooting did not occur in the heat of the moment.”
Buck was represented by lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Texas Defender Service before the Supreme Court. Buck had appealed his death sentence multiple times without success.
“Today, the Supreme Court made clear that there is no place for racial bias in the American criminal justice system,” said Christina Swarns, counsel of record for Buck and Litigation Director of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in a statement. “[T]he Court has reaffirmed the longstanding principle that criminal punishments – particularly the death penalty – cannot be based on immutable characteristics such as race.”
VICTORY! https://t.co/xIHqV1SWUG
— Legal Defense Fund (@NAACP_LDF) February 22, 2017
