Thomas Govan's guest appearances

Thomas Govan

Air Force Judge Advocate General's School Podcast

Chris Bailey

Joseph Miller

Cynthia Kearley

Patrick Mordente

Mark Maldonado

Eric McGreevy

Bill DeMarco

Curtis McNeil

Dan O’Connor

Ivan Denisovich

Richard Harding

Carlos Colon

Bradley Richardson

Sheri Jones

Kevin Malloy

OwlTail

This is Part 2 of the interview with Captain Thomas Govan on his experience in arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2018 in the case of Vernon Madison v. State of Alabama.  If you didn’t hear Part 1, please do, where we discuss an overview of the case, how Captain Govan became involved and selected to present oral argument, and the preparation he took leading up to the day of oral argument.Summary In summary for the case of Madison v. State of Alabama: The US Supreme Court held in a 5-3 decision with the State of Alabama that the 8th Amendment permits a state to execute a prisoner who no longer remembers the crime.  However, the Court held that a state cannot executive rationally understand the reason for execution, whether that reason is due to psychosis or dementia, as is the case with Mr. Madison.  Justice Kagan authored the Court’s majority opinion and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan.  The dissent included Justice Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch.  Justice Cavanagh had not yet taken the bench.The majority opinion followed the precedents set in the seminal cases of Ford v. Wainwright, 1986, and Panetti v. Quarterman, 2007, where the Court held the 8th Amendment prohibits executing a prisoner who lost his/her “sanity” in that “killing one who has no capacity” to understand the crime or punishment “simply offends humanity.”  And that there is no “retributive value” in executing a person who has no comprehension of the sentence.

This is Part 2 of the interview with Captain Thomas Govan on his experience in arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2018 in the case of Vernon Madison v. State of Alabama. If you didn’t hear Part 1, please do, where we discuss an overview of the case, how Captain Govan became involved and selected to present oral argument, and the preparation he took leading up to the day of oral argument. Summary In summary for the case of Madison v. State of Alabama: The US Supreme Court held in a 5-3 decision with the State of Alabama that the 8th Amendment permits a state to execute a prisoner who no longer remembers the crime. However, the Court held that a state cannot executive rationally understand the reason for execution, whether that reason is due to psychosis or dementia, as is the case with Mr. Madison. Justice Kagan authored the Court’s majority opinion and was joined by Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor and Kagan. The dissent included Justice Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch. Justice Cavanagh had not yet taken the bench. The majority opinion followed the precedents set in the seminal cases of Ford v. Wainwright, 1986, and Panetti v. Quarterman, 2007, where the Court held the 8th Amendment prohibits executing a prisoner who lost his/her “sanity” in that “killing one who has no capacity” to understand the crime or punishment “simply offends humanity.” And that there is no “retributive value” in executing a person who has no comprehension of the sentence.

8. JAG Successfully Argues before US Supreme Court with Captain Thomas Govan - Part 2

In this episode, we interview Captain Thomas Govan on his experience in successfully arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2018 in the case of Vernon Madison v. State of Alabama where he argued on behalf of the State of Alabama.  The case centered around whether the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, barring cruel and unusual punishment, prohibits executing a person for a crime they do not remember.This episode is the first part of the 2-part interview.  In this first part, we discuss an overview of the case, how Captain Govan became involved and selected to present oral argument, and the preparation he took leading up to the day of oral argument.  In Part 2, we focus on his experience at the US Supreme Court in oral argument.

In this episode, we interview Captain Thomas Govan on his experience in successfully arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in October 2018 in the case of Vernon Madison v. State of Alabama where he argued on behalf of the State of Alabama. The case centered around whether the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, barring cruel and unusual punishment, prohibits executing a person for a crime they do not remember. This episode is the first part of the 2-part interview. In this first part, we discuss an overview of the case, how Captain Govan became involved and selected to present oral argument, and the preparation he took leading up to the day of oral argument. In Part 2, we focus on his experience at the US Supreme Court in oral argument.

7. JAG Successfully Argues before US Supreme Court with Captain Thomas Govan - Part 1