This is Part 2 of the interview with Captain Thomas Govan on his experience in arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2018 in the case of Vernon Madison v. State of Alabama. If you didn’t hear Part 1, please do, where we discuss an overview of the case, how Captain Govan became involved and selected to present oral argument, and the preparation he took leading up to the day of oral argument.

Summary

In summary for the case of Madison v. State of Alabama:

The US Supreme Court held in a 5-3 decision with the State of Alabama that the 8th Amendment permits a state to execute a prisoner who no longer remembers the crime. However, the Court held that a state cannot executive rationally understand the reason for execution, whether that reason is due to psychosis or dementia, as is the case with Mr. Madison. Justice Kagan authored the Court’s majority opinion and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. The dissent included Justice Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. Justice Cavanagh had not yet taken the bench.

The majority opinion followed the precedents set in the seminal cases of Ford v. Wainwright, 1986, and Panetti v. Quarterman, 2007, where the Court held the 8th Amendment prohibits executing a prisoner who lost his/her “sanity” in that “killing one who has no capacity” to understand the crime or punishment “simply offends humanity.” And that there is no “retributive value” in executing a person who has no comprehension of the sentence.