The Supreme Court plans to consider taking up a petition challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty on Friday, which could put capital punishment on trial at the high court before the end of the current term.
The justices decided this week to reschedule consideration of Hidalgo v. Arizona, according to former Obama administration acting solicitor general Neal Katyal, who is bringing the case to the justices’ attention.
Katyal has led the charge against President Trump’s travel ban in the courts as the lead attorney for Hawaii in the 9th Circuit Courts. Katyal argued more cases before the Supreme Court last term than any other lawyer and now appears to be spoiling for another major fight at the high court.
Katyal’s petition questions the constitutionality of the death penalty under the 8th Amendment in general and Arizona’s capital punishment method in particular. The Hidalgo case involves Abdel Daniel Hidalgo, who killed someone for cash and killed a bystander during the course of his crime, according to the petition.
Four justices are required to grant a case. Justice Stephen Breyer has repeatedly expressed his desire for the high court to review the constitutionality of the death penalty. One of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s first actions after joining the bench this year was to cast the decisive vote in a 5-4 decision permitting a slew of Arkansas executions to proceed.
If the justices agree to hear arguments in Hidalgo, it would immediately become one of the highest-profile cases in the term.
