Roper v. Weaver

Summary

The Supreme Court dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted after granting review to determine whether the Court of Appeals had improperly applied the AEDPA standard of review to a capital sentence. The Court noted unusual procedural history where a prior pre-AEDPA habeas petition was erroneously dismissed, leading to a post-AEDPA petition, and sought to avoid disparate treatment with similarly situated litigants. Justice Scalia dissented, arguing the Court should resolve the AEDPA question and reverse the Eighth Circuit, while Chief Justice Roberts concurred in the result.