Scalia says Breyer and Ginsburg's death penalty dissent "rejects the Enlightenment"

Justice Antonin Scalia got the ruling he wanted in Glossip v. Gross, the Supreme Court's death penalty decision that came down Monday — but he still felt the need to express his views in his characteristic strongly-worded rhetoric, this time aimed at two liberals on the court.

What annoyed Scalia so much wasn't the main dissent in the case, signed onto by all four of the court's liberals, but a separate dissent written by Justice Stephen Breyer and signed onto by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The two called on the Court to reassess whether the death penalty was constitutional at all, and said they had both come to believe that it "now likely constitutes a legally prohibited 'cruel and unusual punishment.'"

So Scalia wrote a separate concurrence, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, which said not only that Breyer was wrong, but that he was rejecting the entire Enlightenment:

Scalia felt strongly enough that he decided to read his concurrence from the bench, which lawyer Tejinder Singh, a contributor to SCOTUSblog, wrote was "exceedingly rare" for a concurring opinion, rather than a majority opinion or a dissent. (Update: Slate's Dahlia Lithwick reports that what Scalia actually read "deviated from his written concurrence in some really odd ways.") Read more about the new death penalty ruling here.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.

So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)

If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via