Justices Give Georgia Death Row Inmate New Round Of Appeals

The Supreme Court is giving a Georgia death row inmate whose execution was called off last year another chance to raise claims of racial bias on his jury.

The justices voted 6-3 Monday to order the federal appeals court in Atlanta to take up the case of inmate Keith Leroy Tharpe. A juror used a racial slur to describe Tharpe years after Tharpe was convicted of killing Jacquelin Freeman, his sister-in-law, 27 years ago.

Justice Clarence Thomas called the court’s unsigned opinion “ceremonial handwringing” in a dissent that predicted Tharpe ultimately would lose his appeal. Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch joined Thomas.