Deck v. Missouri

Carman Deck was convicted of murdering and robbing an elderly couple. He stood before the sentencing jury not as an innocent man, but as a convicted double murderer and robber. Today this Court holds that Deck’s due process rights were violated when he appeared at sentencing in leg irons, handcuffs, and a belly chain. The Court holds that such restraints may only be used where the use is “ ‘justified by an essential state interest’ ” that is “specific to the defend*636ant on trial,” ante, at 624, and that is supported by specific findings by the trial court. Tradition — either at English common…