Wellons v. Hall

Summary

Justice Alito's dissent argues that the Court improperly vacated and remanded the judgment because the lower court's decision rested on an independent merits ground unaffected by the procedural-default error identified by the Court. He maintains that the lower courts adequately considered the discovery request and that, if the Court believed the merits determination was wrong, it should have granted review and decided that issue rather than using a GVR disposition to invite reconsideration. Justice Scalia, dissenting separately, likewise would reject the GVR as unauthorized and criticizes it as a remand for an inconsequential error.