[19991021]RS20369_死刑： Summary of Supreme Court Decisions of the 1998-99 Term.pdf

1For additional background materials on the subject, see W. White, Capital Punishments Future,91 Mich. L. Rev. 1429, 1429 (1993); D. Schrader, Capital Punishment: Summary of SupremeCourt Decisions on the Death Penalty, CRS Report 96-116 A (Feb. 1, 1996); P. Wallace, CapitalPunishment Summary of Supreme Court Decisions During the 1997-98 Term, CRS ReportRL30145 (April 19, 1999).Congressional Research Service The Library of CongressCRS Report for CongressReceived through the CRS WebOrder Code RS20369October 21, 1999Capital Punishment: Summary of Supreme CourtDecisions of the 1998-99 TermPaul Starett Wallace, Jr.Specialist in American Public LawAmerican Law DivisionSummaryThe most significant capital punishment cases decided by the Supreme Court duringthe 1998-99 term did very little in terms of reversing the lower courts where thepetitioners were the defendants at the trial level.1 Significantly, among these cases, theCourt settled splits in the circuits on issues of statutory interpretation and other trial-related issues. The Court also made clear that withholding an element of an offense froma jurys consideration can be a harmless error. In the Strickler case, the Court gave somegu