Tennard v. Dretke
| Tennard v. Dretke | |
|---|---|
| Argued March 22, 2004 Decided June 24, 2004 | |
| Full case name | Robert James Tennard v. Doug Dretke, Director, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Correctional Institutions Division |
| Citations | 542 U.S. 274 (more) 124 S. Ct. 2562; 159 L. Ed. 2d 384; 2004 U.S. LEXIS 4575; 72 U.S.L.W. 4540; 17 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. S 420 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Texas trial court sentenced Tennard to death; decision affirmed on appeal; decision affirmed again by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals; habeas corpus petition denied, Civ. Action No. H-98-4238 (S.D. Tex. July 25, 2000), App. 121; Fifth Circuit affirmed, Tennard v. Cockrell, 284 F.3d 591 (2002); U.S. Supreme Court remanded for reconsideration, 537 U.S. 802 (2002); Fifth Circuit reinstated, 317 F.3d 476 (2003), cert. granted, 540 U.S. 945 (2003). |
| Holding | |
| A certificate of appealability should issue where "reasonable jurists would find the district court's assessment of the constitutional claims debatable or wrong." | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | O'Connor, joined by Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg, Breyer |
| Dissent | Rehnquist |
| Dissent | Scalia |
| Dissent | Thomas |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. VIII | |
Tennard v. Dretke, 542 U.S. 274 (2004), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court was asked whether evidence of the defendant's low IQ in a death penalty trial had been adequately presented to the jury for full consideration in the penalty phase of his trial. The Supreme Court held that not considering a defendant's low IQ would breach his Eighth Amendment rights and constitute a cruel and unusual punishment.