Does Proof Matter at the Supreme Court?
There’s evidence a death row inmate is innocent. The justices are condemning him to die.
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Episode Notes
The Sixth Amendment is supposed to guarantee the right to a fair trial—including a lawyer, even if the defendant can’t afford one. But Indigent Defense is woefully underfunded and, sometimes, State-appointed lawyers are nowhere near as competent as Federal attorneys. A new Supreme Court ruling makes it more difficult to use exonerating evidence discovered on a Federal level to prove innocence, even if State counsel didn’t look for it.
Guest: Leah Litman, law professor at University of Michigan, specializing in constitutional law and federal courts, and co-host of the podcast Strict Scrutiny
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Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Elena Schwartz, Carmel Delshad, Anna Rubanova and Sam Kim.
