The Supreme Court on Oct. 8 lifted its temporary stay of a federal appeals court ruling requiring that Alabama death row inmate Michael Sockwell be retried for murder.
In an unsigned order, the high court lifted an administrative stay of a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit that Justice Clarence Thomas granted on Sept. 26. Thomas, who oversees emergency appeals from Alabama, did not explain at the time why he granted the administrative stay, which gave the justices more time to consider the emergency appeal.
The new order specifies that the denial of the state’s emergency application is “without prejudice to a reapplication if a new trial is imminent.” In other words, Alabama is free to file a new application with the Supreme Court if a new trial of Sockwell is approaching….