Gregorio Jimenez v. E.R. Myers, Warden Attorney General of California

As federal judges, we’re subject to a peculiar myopia: We tend to see the federal way of doing things as the best way, often as the be-all and end-all of due process. This preference for the familiar is understandable enough, but it carries with it special dangers when we review state convictions for constitutional error. There are many ways of giving a defendant a fair trial. We sap our federal system of vitality and creativity when we strike down state procedures because they differ from our own.

This is a case in point. Not everyone agrees on how to deal with a jury that indicates it’s…