Yesterday, the Supreme Court in a per curiam decision upheld Ohio’s jury instructions that require jurors first to reject the death penalty before considering a sentence of life imprisonment. See Bobby v. Mitts, No. 10-1000.
In the order denying the petition for rehearing en banc before the Sixth Circuit, as previously reported here, Judge Sutton stated the reasons that he thought the panel of the Sixth Circuit decided this case incorrectly, but concluded that this was not a case appropriate for en banc review: “Sometimes there is nothing wrong with letting the United States Supreme Court decide whether a decision is correct and, if not, whether it is worthy of correction.” Apparently, the Supreme Court agreed.