In Cruz v. Arizona, 598 U.S. ____ (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court sided with John Montenegro Cruz, a death row inmate in Arizona. According to a 5-4 majority, Arizona erred in refusing to apply the Court’s precedent set forth in Simmons v. South Carolina, 512 U.S. 154 (1994), which requires states to inform juries whether a capital defendant will be eligible for release if they are not sentenced to death.
