The Supreme Court today decided Williams v. Pennsylvania, reversing the defendant's death penalty on the ground that the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania had erroneously denied a recusal motion in a post-conviction challenge, where he had previously, when serving as Philadelphia district attorney, signed an authorization to seek the death penalty in the trial court. The decision was 5-3, with Justice Kennedy writing for the majority.
Here is the the key sentence in Kennedy's opinion: "Bias is easy to attribute to others and difficult to discern in oneself."
Here is the key sentence in Justice Thomas's dissent: "[The majority's] conclusion that bias alone could be grounds for disqualification as a constitutional matter 'represents a complete departure from common law principles.'”