From the NEW YORK TIMES Opinion:
Last Friday, a state trial judge stayed Pennsylvania’s execution of Terrance Williams—scheduled for this Wednesday—and ordered a new sentencing hearing. In response to a motion from Philadelphia’s district attorney, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court could overturn the stay and order, putting the execution back on schedule. Yet the court’s chief justice has no business judging this case.
Chief Justice Ronald Castille has a classic and flagrant conflict of interest: he is passing judgment on a prosecution that he approved and oversaw, and on a trial judge’s ruling that strongly censured that prosecution. He was the Philadelphia district attorney in 1986 and accountable for the serious misconduct that led to Mr. Williams’ death sentence.
The current Williams defense team filed motions on Monday for the chief justice to either recuse himself, or refer the matter to his fellow justices, so he was not deciding his own case. But, within hours, Mr. Castille turned down both motions…
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It’s always a sad day when the state puts someone to death. The fact that the crime was so long ago makes it even more sad, but it is the price we pay for the slow grinding wheels of justice. The accused trial wasn’t perfect but it was fair. One can always argue what might have happened.
Those who deplore the death penalty need to convince those who believe in it that it is unjust. Until then it looks like some will continue to cast dispersion on the legal system and those who administer it while the victim and the victims family continue to be denied justice.