(Photographer:
Samuel
Corum/Bloomberg)
The
Supreme
Court’s
recent
Death
Penalty
jurisprudence
has
been
pretty
dark:
their
decision
to
deny
a
stay
of
execution
for
Marcellus
Williams
is
and
will
be
a
mark
of
shame
on
this
country’s
history.
But,
in
an
unexpected
break
from
the
Court’s
live
and
let
die
approach
to
death
row,
they
are
giving
an
Oklahoma
inmate
a
second
bite
at
due
process.
EJI
has
coverage:
The
U.S.
Supreme
Court
on
Tuesday
granted
relief
to
Brenda
Andrew,
who
was
sentenced
to
death
in
Oklahoma
after
prosecutors
introduced
evidence
about
her
sex
life
and
her
failings
as
a
wife
and
mother.
The
Court
ordered
the
federal
appeals
court
to
assess
whether
this
“irrelevant
evidence
about
[her]
demeanor
as
a
woman
…
deprive[d]
her
of
a
fundamentally
fair
trial.”
…
The
State
accused
Ms.
Andrew
of
conspiring
with
Mr.
Pavatt
to
murder
her
husband.
At
trial,
according
to
the
Court’s
per
curiam
decision,
the
prosecution
“elicited
testimony
about
Andrew’s
sexual
partners
reaching
back
two
decades;
about
the
outfits
she
wore
to
dinner
or
during
grocery
runs;
about
the
underwear
she
packed
for
vacation;
and
about
how
often
she
had
sex
in
her
car.”
The
prosecutor
also
displayed
her
thong
underwear
to
jurors
while
urging
them
to
convict
her
of
capital
murder.
It
would
have
been
bad
enough
if
the
prosecution
just
referred
to
Ms.
Andrew
as
a
“slut
puppy”
throughout
the
trial
(which
they
did),
but
parading
around
her
underwear?
How
did
that
even
play
out
in
closing
argument?
“Were
her
finger
prints
on
the
murder
weapon?
No.
But
we
did
find
these
revealing
Victoria’s
Secret
panties
in
one
of
her
drawers.
What
other
secrets
might
she
be
hiding?!”
Justices
Thomas
and
Gorsuch
were
the
only
two
Justices
that
dissented
from
the
order.
The
bar
is
in
hell,
but
a
pat
on
the
back
for
Kavanaugh
not
making
that
duo
a
trio.
Supreme
Court
Grants
Relief
in
Oklahoma
Death
Penalty
Case
[EJI]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
cannot
swim, a
published
author
on
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected] and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.