{"id":96,"date":"2026-05-22T17:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=96"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:18:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:18:19","slug":"scotus-execution-case-exemplifies-the-thomas-alito-dream-team-at-its-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=96","title":{"rendered":"SCOTUS Execution Case Exemplifies The Thomas-Alito Dream Team At Its Best"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito often find themselves on the same side of cases at the U.S. Supreme Court. But what generally goes unnoticed is how the two justices\u2019 similar yet differing approaches to the law come together to advance better constitutional interpretation for the country. <\/p>\n

Read more A California Rancher\u2019s Legal Crisis Shows What\u2019s Wrong With The American Beef Market<\/a><\/p>\n

This dynamic was on full display in the court\u2019s Thursday decision in . The case centered around an Alabama man seeking to overturn his capital punishment sentence on the argument that he is intellectually disabled and therefore can\u2019t be executed under the Eighth and 14th Amendments. <\/p>\n

In a 5-4 ruling, with Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett joining the Democrat appointees, SCOTUS declined to rule on the lower courts\u2019 handling of the matter. The high court said that it made a mistake in agreeing to consider the case (\u201cThe writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted\u201d).<\/p>\n

Thomas and Alito disagreed. The two justices authored separate dissenting opinions explaining why the majority got it wrong and why the court should have ruled on the issue. More to the point, however, these opinions demonstrate how they work together to move the court\u2019s jurisprudence in the right direction.<\/p>\n

In his solo dissent, Thomas argued that the court\u2019s Hamm<\/em> decision \u201crewards\u201d convict Joseph Clifton Smith\u2019s efforts \u201cto convince courts that he is not intelligent enough to be executed.\u201d He contended the evidence shows that \u201cSmith is not insufficiently intelligent to be executed,\u201d and that the Supreme Court\u2019s dismissal of Alabama\u2019s petition \u201cchallenging the lower courts\u2019 vacatur of his death sentence\u201d under its existing Atkins v. Virginia<\/em> (2002) precedent is wrong. <\/p>\n

As described by Thomas, the Atkins<\/em> majority \u201cheld for the first time that convicted murderers like Smith cannot be executed\u201d under the Eighth Amendment \u201cif they are deemed insufficiently intelligent, which the Court suggested would require that they had an IQ of 70 or below.\u201d The court in Atkins<\/em> said \u201c[s]uch persons could not be executed,\u201d Thomas wrote, \u201ceven if they \u2018know the difference between right and wrong,\u2019 even if they \u2018are competent to stand trial,\u2019 and even if they are intelligent enough to deserve other \u2018criminal sanctions.’\u201d<\/p>\n

The Atkins<\/em> decision was 6-3, with Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Justices Antonin Scalia and Thomas in the dissent. <\/p>\n

In his Hamm<\/em> opinion, Thomas noted how the evidence shows that Smith\u2019s intellectual capabilities exceed the Atkins<\/em> baseline and how the lower courts \u201cheld that he could not be executed based only on the hypothetical possibility<\/em> that\u201d his five IQ test scores over 70 \u201cwere all wrong and that his IQ is in fact 70 or below.\u201d More notably, however, he called for the Supreme Court to overturn its Atkins<\/em> precedent to establish a new one that\u2019s in accordance with the Constitution.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs this case shows, though, Atkins<\/em> has bred only confusion and absurdity. Nothing in the text or history of the Constitution supports Atkins<\/em>. It should be overruled,\u201d Thomas wrote.<\/p>\n

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Alito, on the other hand, took a different approach in his dissent, which Thomas joined in full and which Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch joined in part. <\/p>\n

While agreeing with Thomas that the court should have resolved the Hamm<\/em> case and that its precedents on the issue have \u201cled to confusion and unsound analysis in lower courts,\u201d the Bush 43 appointee took a more incremental route. Seemingly recognizing that not all of his conservative colleagues may be ready to completely overrule Atkins<\/em> at this time, he argued that \u201cAt the very least, we should reverse the lower courts\u2019 erroneous analysis of Smith\u2019s scores and remand for a fresh consideration of his Atkins<\/em> claim using any sound method.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if our decision went no further, we would provide clarity and coherence to one aspect of our Atkins<\/em> doctrine. Instead, the Court shies away from its obligation to provide workable rules for capital cases,\u201d Alito wrote. \u201cIn doing so, the Court disserves its own death penalty jurisprudence, States\u2019 criminal-justice systems, lower courts, and victims of horrific murders.\u201d<\/p>\n

See the dynamic at play? <\/p>\n

Whereas Thomas plants the beacon on where SCOTUS should<\/em> be<\/em> on an issue and where it needs to go, Alito is willing to stake out a milder position to help get it there over time. The former provides the big-picture outline, while the latter colors it in. <\/p>\n

This pivotal working relationship was also on full display in the court\u2019s Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em> (2022) decision overturning Roe v. Wade<\/em> (1973) and the made-up \u201cconstitutional right\u201d to abortion. In her bestselling book, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution<\/em>, Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway notes how Alito was seen as \u201cthe best person\u201d to author the majority opinion because \u201cone of his greatest strengths is keeping a majority opinion together and incorporating arguments from everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was especially crucial in Dobbs<\/em>, where Alito had to balance Thomas\u2019 willingness to frequently reexamine precedent and belief that SCOTUS \u201cwas in error when it kept finding rights\u201d in the 14th Amendment\u2019s due process clause (\u201csubstantive due process\u201c) with Kavanaugh\u2019s greater regard for precedent. Alito ultimately penned an opinion that did just that, while Thomas authored a outlining why the court should \u201creconsider all of [its] substantive due process precedents\u201d since \u201cany substantive due process decision is \u2018demonstrably erroneous.’\u201d<\/p>\n

What cases like Dobbs<\/em> and Hamm<\/em> underscore is the often-unappreciated secret sauce behind many of the Supreme Court\u2019s crucial decisions in recent years. That is, Thomas\u2019 and Alito\u2019s differing but equally necessary approaches to the law working together to produce jurisprudence that accords with what the Constitution calls for. <\/p>\n

Whether in victory or defeat, these two justices are laying the foundation of solid originalist interpretation for future courts to look towards in related matters before the bench. Their combined presence at SCOTUS is a blessing, one which Americans would be wise to appreciate while they have it. <\/p>\n

Read more Are More People Going To Church Because Fewer Are Going To College?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas and Alito’s dissents in Hamm v. Smith show how they work together to move the Supreme Court’s jurisprudence in the right direction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[514,515,204,323,516,517,518,519,445,135],"class_list":["post-96","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-scotus","tag-atkins-v-virginia","tag-clarence-thomas","tag-constitution","tag-death-penalty","tag-eighth-amendment","tag-hamm-v-smith","tag-originalism","tag-samuel-alito","tag-scotus","tag-supreme-court"],"yoast_head":"\nSCOTUS Execution Case Exemplifies The Thomas-Alito Dream Team At Its Best - Property Transition Media<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/propertytransitionmedia.com\/?p=96\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SCOTUS Execution Case Exemplifies The Thomas-Alito Dream Team At Its Best - Property Transition Media\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Thomas and Alito's dissents in Hamm v. 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