Delo v. Stokes

Justice Brennan,

with whom Justice Marshall joins and Justice Blackmun joins as to Parts I, II, and III, dissenting.

I

Today the Court vacates a stay of execution entered by the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri and found to be within that court’s discretion by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, sitting en banc. Contrary to the majority’s intimations, this case does not involve a last minute stay application by a defendant on the eve of his execution. Rather, Winford Stokes raised an equal protection claim in an amendment to a petition for…