The death penalty reared its head again at the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. It was the first time the court publicly considered a death case since last term, when a constitutional challenge to lethal injection procedures erupted into a rare, nasty and vituperative debate among the justices. This time, the issues were far more technical but still a matter of life and death.
At issue before the court were decisions by the Kansas Supreme Court reversing the death sentences of men convicted in two high-profile and horrific murder cases.
