Supreme Court·Death penalty

Nov. 4 argument: Texas, backed by the Trump administration and 22 states, asks the justices to limit a death-row inmate's second habeas petition

Published 5:00 PM CT, Friday, October 30, 2026 · Updated 5:16 PM CT
In the 5 PM CT update

The Supreme Court will hear Guerrero v. Johnson on Nov. 4, on whether Texas death-row inmate Dexter Johnson, convicted in 2007 of a double murder, can bring a second federal habeas petition claiming intellectual disability under updated diagnostic standards as a "previously unavailable" rule, SCOTUSblog reported. Texas says the Court's 2002 Atkins ruling was available long before; Solicitor General D. John Sauer and Louisiana with 21 other states back Texas, and a decision is expected by late June or early July.

• Supreme Court
• Guerrero v. Johnson
• Death penalty
• Habeas corpus
• Texas
• Atkins v. Virginia
• AEDPA
• D. John Sauer
• Eighth Amendment
• United States