Schiro v. Indiana

Sup. Ct. Ind. Certiorari denied.

Opinion of

Justice Stevens

respecting the denial of the petition for writ of certiorari.

There is a critical difference between a judgment of affirmance and an order denying a petition for a writ of certiorari. The former determines the rights of the parties; the latter expresses no opinion on the merits of the case.1 Partly for that reason, and *911partly because our certiorari docket is so crowded, the Court does not explain its reasons for entering such orders. There is, accordingly, a danger that an individual Justice’s statement of his or her views respecting the…