When a death-sentenced person has demonstrated that he has been rehabilitated, does the Eighth Amendment prohibit his execution because the penological goals of the death penalty would not be met by executing that person?

QUESTION PRESENTED * CAPITAL CASE * This Court has a long history of barring execution when a death sentence no longer furthers the penological goals of capital punishment. See Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972); Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584 (1977); Enmund v. Florida, 458 U.S. 782 (1982); Ford v. Wainwright, 477 U.S. 399 (1986); Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304 (2002); Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005); Panetti v. Quarterman, 551 U.S. 930 (2007); Kennedy v. Louisiana, 554 U.S. 407 (2008). As the Court has recognized, the two principal goals of capital punishment are retribution and deterrence. See Kennedy, 554 U.S. at 420, 441; Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 183 (1976); Glossip v. Gross, 576 U.S. 863, 896 (2015) (Scalia, J., with Thomas, J., concurring). But when a person on death row has been rehabilitated, execution of the individual would not sufficiently further those penological goals. The Court has not yet addressed whether it would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment to execute a person who has been rehabilitated during his time on death row. This is the rare case where a person facing an imminent execution unquestionably is fully rehabilitated. Brian Dorsey committed the offense during a drug-induced psychosis. During Mr. Dorsey’s many years on death row, removed from the circumstances that led to his psychosis, he has been rehabilitated. Notably, he earned the extraordinary trust of prison staff: he served as the prison’s barber — cutting the hair of inmates, correctional officers, and even wardens — and lived in the prison’s honor dorm. He never broke a prison rule and maintained a clean prison record for more than 17 years. And he has received the unprecedented support of more than 70 correctional officers in seeking clemency. The question presented is: When a death-sentenced person has demonstrated that he has been rehabilitated, does the Eighth Amendment prohibit his execution because the penological goals of the death penalty would not be met by executing that person? i