Keith Tharpe, Petitioner v. Benjamin Ford, Warden

The Supreme Court declined to hear Keith Tharpe's appeal on whether Pena-Rodriguez applies retroactively to cases on collateral review. That left the Eleventh Circuit's decision in place and did not decide the legal question on the merits.

On March 18, 2019, the Court declined review; the prompt does not provide a vote count or any opinion lineup.

The case grew out of a death sentence and a juror affidavit with openly racist statements, including wondering whether black people "even have souls." By declining review, the Court left people with final convictions without a new nationwide answer on when such juror-bias claims can be raised later.

This Supreme Court docket is finished. Any further effort by Tharpe would have to come, if at all, through other lower-court or post-conviction proceedings.

He asked whether Pena-Rodriguez, a case about clear racial bias by jurors, applies retroactively in collateral review (later post-conviction review).

People challenging final convictions, especially death sentences, still do not have a new nationwide rule for similar juror-racism claims.

This Supreme Court case is over. The Eleventh Circuit's decision remains in place unless some other lower-court path is still available.