State v. Santiago

Summary

This separate opinion dissents from the majority's conclusion that Connecticut's death penalty is unconstitutional after the legislature prospectively repealed it while preserving the penalty for certain already-committed offenses. The dissent argues that the majority improperly substituted judicial policy preferences for the legislature's judgment, disregarded mixed evidence concerning contemporary standards of decency, and violated separation-of-powers principles. Justice Espinosa, dissenting, would uphold the legislature's decision to retain capital punishment for the eleven prisoners then on death row and criticizes the concurrence for addressing racial-bias issues not presented by the appeal.