An amusing dissent by Chief Justice Roberts

In a recent Supreme Court decision, John Paul Stevens' majority opinion threw out two death penalty sentences in Texas and rebuked the state because they "misapplied the law as clearly established by earlier decisions of this Court." I thought that Roberts had an amusing response:

"Still, perhaps there is no reason to be unduly glum. After all, today the author of a dissent issued in 1988 writes two majority opinions concluding that the views established in that dissent actually represented 'clearly established' federal law at that time. So there is hope yet for the views expressed in this dissent."

"Encouraged by the majority's determination that the future can change the past, I respectfully dissent."