Page:Russell Bucklew v. Anne L. Precythe, Director, Missouri Department of Corrections.pdf/56

18 constitutional means of carrying it out.” 576 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 4) (emphasis added; alterations and internal quotation marks omitted).

These conclusions do not follow. It may be that there is no way to execute a prisoner quickly while affording him the protections that our Constitution guarantees to those who have been singled out for our law’s most severe sanction. And it may be that, as our Nation comes to place ever greater importance upon ensuring that we accurately identify, through procedurally fair methods, those who may lawfully be put to death, there simply is no constitutional way to implement the death penalty.

I have elsewhere written about these problems. See id., at ___–___ (, dissenting) (slip op., at 29–33). And I simply conclude here that the law entitles Bucklew to an opportunity to prove his claim at trial. I note, however, that this case adds to the mounting evidence that we can either have a death penalty that avoids excessive delays and “arguably serves legitimate penological purposes,” or we can have a death penalty that “seeks reliability and fairness in the death penalty’s application” and avoids the infliction of cruel and unusual punishments. Id., at ___ (slip op., at 32). It may well be that we “cannot have both.” Ibid.

I respectfully dissent.