Supreme Court Grants Cert to Hank Skinner

The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to Hank Skinner, a Texas death row inmate who is trying to get access to DNA evidence that he claims will clear his name.

The Court has already ruled that there is no constitutional right to post-conviction DNA testing, but Skinner's claim is that he's entitled to the testing under federal civil rights law.

Interestingly, it was Justice Scalia who first stayed Skinner's execution in March. Scalia has written in a couple of opinions now that the U.S. Constitution does not prohibit the government from executing an innocent person.

I wrote about Skinner's case in February.