Wednesday, July 7, 1976
High court
reduces
prisoners'
rights
(Continued from Page 1)
plied in federal habeas corpus
proceedings "deflects the truth-
finding process and often frees
the guilty."
"Where the state has pro-
vided an opportunity for full
and fair litigation of a Fourth
Amendment claim, a state pri-
soner may not be granted fed-
eral habeaus corpus relief on
the ground that evidence in an
unconstitutional search or seiz-
ure was introduced at his trial,"
Powell said for the court.
Chief Justice Warren Burger
said in atseparate concurring
opinion that he believed the ex-
clusionary rule should at most
be retained "for a small and
limited category of cases."
THE COURT expressed doubt
as to how much good the rule
has done on deterring police
from illegalities.
Justices William Brennan Jr.,
Thurgood Marshall and Byron
White dissented.
"I fear that the same treat-
ment ultimately will be accord-
ed state prisoners' claims of
violations of other constitution-
al rights," Brennan wrote.
I N O T H E R decisions,
the court:
-Ruled 7-2 that border patrol
may stop autos at regular
checkpoints without having a
particular reason to believe
that there are illegal aliens in
the car.
-Ruled 5-4 that federal
judges may not keep union
workers from strikng in sym-
pathy with another striking un-
ion even though their own con-
tract prohibits strikes.
-Upheld by a 5-4 vote the
use as evidence of a bag of
marijuana which police found
in the glove compartment of a
car while making a routine
search after impounding the ve-
hicle for a parking violation.
-Ruled 5-3 that evidence il-
legally seized by police may be
used in a civil proceeding, such
a n suit for refund of taxes, in
federal court.
-Agreed to hear arguments
net term on whether states
must provide free abortions to
women on welfare who choose
to have them. It will also con-
sider whether a municipal hos-
pital may be required to make
it posible for a woman to have
an abortion if she chooses.
THIE OKLAHOMA capital
m'mishment law was the third
tdltory death penalty sta-
tte to be declared unconstitu-
tional by the court. On Friday
te jutices struck down the
mandatory laws of Louisiana
and North Carolina but upheld
lea in Florida, Georgia and
Te swhich allow judges and
jries to decide on the sentence
ht give them guidelines by
which to do so.
In yesterday's action the
court declined to hear the ap-
peals of nine men sentenced to
death in Georgia and six sen-
enced to death in Florida un-
der the laws which it upheld as
constitutional punishment for
mwtier
Ge, George G. Meade com-
manded the forces of the vic-
torious Union Army at the
atl It 0 ettysburg from July
1 to 3, 1863. .
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven
'U' law profs oppose death penalty ruling
By LOIS JOSIMOVICH
Several University law profes-
sors yesterday voiced firm dis-
approval of last week's Supreme
Court decision to uphold the
death penalty, while comment-
ing that, for the most part, the
ruling came as no surprise.
"I think it's been pretty well
established that the death pen-
alty doesn't do much for the
public," said Law School Dean
Theodore St. Antoine.
"THE DECISION is obviously
one that turns on fundamental
beliefs about the role of the
Supreme Court," he said, voic-
ing his feeling that the decision
was more philosophical than
legal, and thus dependent on
the personal opinions of the jus-
tices rather than their interpre-
tations of the law.
St. Antoine added that he
thought the penalty worked
more against poor people than
against the well off.
Professor Yale Kamisar, a
specialist in criminal law, said
he was not surprised with the
decision because the public,
given a "sober second chance"
to look at the death penalty,
"came back strongly for it."
"The Gallup polls showed
more support for the death
penalty than ever before after
the 1972 decision," he said, re-
ferring to the 5-2 decision strik-
ing down then-current capital
punishment statutes.
SINCE THAT ruling, 34 states
have put new capital punish-
ment laws on their books.
"I always thought that (Jus-
tice John) Stewart (who wrote
the main opinion in last week's
decision) and (Byron) White
were very shaky on this ques-
tion," Kamisar said.
"I'm against the death pen-
alty personally, and I think
probably most of -the judges are
too," he commented, but added
that "there's a big distinction
between the Court calling some-
thing constitutional and the
Court calling it right."
ASSISTANT Dean Rhonda Ri-
vera claimed that reassertion of
the death penalty is "consistent
with the way the court's been
moving" since the recent ap-
pointment of several conserva-
tives to the Supreme Court.
Rivera criticized the decision
partially because ist affects only
murderers, who are, according
to her, "the least likely people
to recommit their crimes. What
it comes down to is a matter of
revenge."
NONE OF the three lawyers
were satisfied with the Court's
reference to a ten per cent crime
increase since the 1972 decision
as a basis for the new ruling.
"I am surprised and disap-
pointed that that argument was
used," declared Kamisar, say-
ing that the rise was normal.
St. Antoine expressed a hope
that Michigan, the first state to
oust the death penalty, will keep
the door shut on it.
"I SUSPECT that if we get a
more liberal president that this
matter could well be re-examin-
ed," he said, adding that he
thinks the practice is doomed.
However, all three major con-
tenders for the presidency -
President Ford, Ronald Reagan
and Jimmy Carter - have ap-
proved the latest decision.
The professors concluded that
any changes in the present state
of capital punishment law will be
very slow, perhaps occurring at
the state court or administrative
levels rather than in the Su-
preme Court.
PERFORMING ARTS
BROCKVILLE, Canada (RPl-
The eighth annual 1000 Islands
International School of Scottish
Performing Arts will be held
here July 5-16.
The program includes piping,
highland dancing and drum-
ming.
Check your boat owner's
manual before you decide how
many persons to take aboard.
The manual will give the range
of weight that the vessel is ca-
pable of carrying in safety.
4'_
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