In the 1994 case Louise Harris v. Alabama, the U.S Supreme Court upheld a ruling that allowed judges to override jury recommendations in capital punishment cases. The petitioner, Louise Harris, was convicted of hiring a hitman to murder her husband and sentenced to death by an Alabama judge who overruled the jury's recommendation for life imprisonment without parole. In her appeal, she argued this practice violated her Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury and Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. However, the court ruled 8-1 that judicial override did not violate either amendment as long as it was within state law guidelines which required consideration of all evidence presented at trial before making such decisions.

In the dissenting opinion for Louise Harris v. Alabama, Justice Stevens argued that the majority's decision to uphold Alabama's capital sentencing scheme was inconsistent with previous Supreme Court rulings. He contended that allowing a judge to override a jury’s recommendation of life imprisonment and instead impose a death sentence violated the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to trial by jury. Furthermore, he criticized the majority for failing to provide clear guidelines on when judicial overrides are appropriate, which could lead to arbitrary and capricious imposition of death sentences. In his view, this lack of guidance made it impossible for lower courts or juries in Alabama (or any other state) to apply federal law correctly and consistently in capital cases.