The Supreme Court Steps In
For many inmates in American prisons, the U.S. Supreme Court is their favorite pen pal. Prisoners have been known to write weekly (or daily) letters begging the justices to intercede in their cases. These direct pleas (writs of habeas corpus in legalese) have been consistently ignored by the U.S. Supreme Court for fifty years. Yesterday, however, the court surprised many legal observers by breaking its long habit and intervening in the case of death row inmate Troy Davis. He has been on death row in Georgia since being convicted of the 1988 murder of an off-duty police officer. Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for our partner The New York Times, joins us with more of the story.
The story you just read is available to read for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, the reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
When you make a gift of $10 or more a month, we’ll invite you to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of our newsroom to thank you for being with The World.