After the ruling, more than 600 death sentences were vacated, sparing just as many lives.
Fast forward 50 years and the court’s hypocrisy is starker than ever. Although the United States’ sadistic use of state-sanctioned killing already renders it an outlier among western nations, a majority of this court, in theopinion, has now gone further, brushing aside the fundamental tenet of judicial restraint in order to remove bodily autonomy from another group of persons.
And through such cruel indifference, this majority adds the credibility of the court itself to its list of victims.LDF continues to fight for the abolition of the death penalty, as it advocates for the reproductive autonomy of all persons. We do this, in part, because both quests reflect an institutional reverence for the life, freedom, and self-determination of people in this country to live free of discrimination and bias.