A post titled "Supreme Court Reverses Ninth Circuit in AEDPA Case" is sort of like a post titled "Sun Rises in East Today" or "Sunny and Warm in San Diego"; it describes an event so common it's hard to make it sound newsworthy. Still, I thought I would point out today's 5-4 decision in Uttecht v. Brown, a death penalty case considering whether the state trial judge had properly ruled that a particular individual in the jury pool was ineligible to serve on a capital jury. Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, joined by Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito; in their view, the trial judge acted within his discretion in striking the prospective juror. Justice Stevens dissented, joined by Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer. The lower court opinion by Judge Kozinski, joined by Reinhardt and Berzon, is here.