Bourgeois v. Watson

Summary

Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Kagan, dissented from the Court’s denial of a stay of execution and denial of a petition for a writ of certiorari in Bourgeois v. Watson. The dissent argues that the Federal Death Penalty Act’s ban on executing intellectually disabled persons should be interpreted according to current clinical standards and that a petitioner should be allowed to file a successive habeas petition when diagnostic criteria have changed.