In the Gray v. Mississippi case of 1986, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a death sentence cannot be imposed after potential jurors who express reservations about capital punishment are excluded from serving on the jury. The defendant, Bobby Joe Gray was convicted for murder and sentenced to death in Mississippi state court. During jury selection, several prospective jurors were dismissed because they expressed concerns about imposing a death penalty. On appeal, Gray argued this violated his Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury and Fourteenth Amendment right to due process of law. The Supreme Court agreed with him by a 5-4 vote stating that excluding these jurors undermined the fairness of his trial and sentencing procedure thus violating his constitutional rights.

In the dissenting opinion for Gray v. Mississippi, Justice Scalia argued that the majority's decision to reverse Gray's conviction was based on a misinterpretation of precedents and an overreach of judicial power. He contended that while it is unconstitutional to exclude jurors solely because they express general objections to the death penalty, it is permissible if there are doubts about their ability to apply it in a particular case. The juror in question had expressed uncertainty about her capacity to vote for capital punishment, which justified her removal according to state law and previous Supreme Court rulings. Furthermore, he criticized the majority for intervening in state court procedures without clear constitutional grounds or compelling reasons related with fundamental fairness or accuracy of trial results.