The Precedential Value of Robinson, a Reply to Josh
Like a lot of people, I think that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Robinson v. California (1962) is a mess. It’s a due process decision presented as an Eighth Amendment ruling. With that said, I disagree with my colleague Josh Blackman’s view that the case is entitled to no precedential weight because it turned out that Robinson had died in 1961, before the Court took the case. Josh writes:
Jurisdiction can be raised at any time, even after death. The Court lacked jurisdiction to decide Robinson v. California because there was no actual case or controversy. The state was prosecuting a dead body. Robinson gives new meaning to habeas corpus. That decision is entitled to no precedential weight. I think the California Attorney General could, in theory at least, petition to vacate Robinson on those grounds. That probably won’t happen. But next time Robinson comes up, the government should flag the issue.
It seems worth noting that this issue was raised before the Supreme Court in 1962. After the Supreme Court’s ruling, the California Attorney General filed a motion to vacate the judgment or rehear the case that alerted the Court to Robinson’s death.
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