Rethinking Retroactivity in Light of the Supreme Court’s Jury Unanimity Requirement

MICHAEL C. DORF

In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday in Ramos v. Louisiana, in which it held that the federal Constitution forbids states from convicting defendants except by a unanimous jury, Cornell law professor Michael C. Dorf discusses the Court’s jurisprudence on retroactivity. Dorf highlights some costs and benefits of retroactivity and argues that the Court’s refusal to issue advisory opinions limits its ability to resolve retroactivity questions in a way that responds to all the relevant considerations.

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In re Greg Abbott

Docket: 20-0291

Opinion Date: April 23, 2020

Judge: Per Curiam

Areas of Law: Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief to the State seeking review of a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking enforcement of Executive Order GA-13, which changes the rules applicable to judges' decisions regarding pre-trial bail, against judges, holding that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order the judges' requested relief, even temporarily. GA-13 suspends certain statutes authorizing trial judges to release jail inmates with violent histories during the state of disaster due to the threat of the novel coronavirus. Plaintiffs alleged that GA-13 is unconstitutional and exceeds the governor's statutory emergency powers. Sixteen of the plaintiffs were Texas trial judges alleging that GA-13 improperly interferes with their judicial authority to make individualized bail decisions, and the other plaintiffs were public interest organizations and lawyer associations. The trial court issued a TRO blocking enforcement of GA-13 against judges. The Supreme Court conditionally granted mandamus relief, holding that the alleged threat of a criminal prosecution in this case did not give the judges standing to seek the invalidation of GA-13, and therefore, the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order their requested relief.