lethal injection

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Justices Deny 11 Capital Appeals

Court passes on death-row cases following ruling upholding lethal injection

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today dismissed appeals from 11 death-row prisoners in seven states, including three who received last-minute stays of execution last year; the result was no surprise 1 week after the landmark ruling upholding lethal injection in Kentucky, the New York Times reports. The earlier opinion held that the...

Lethal Injection Ruling Will Spur Executions, Lawsuits

Pro-death states will waste no time; lawsuits likely in others

(Newser) - Executions will resume in the United States, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling on lethal injection yesterday, but so will lawsuits, the New York Times reports. By condoning methods “substantially similar” to Kentucky’s, the court has invited more challenges. “We have left the states with nothing...

Supreme Court Upholds Kentucky Lethal Injection

Ruling clears way for other states to resume capital punishment

(Newser) - By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court upheld today the use of lethal injection by a three-drug cocktail. Two death row inmates in Kentucky had charged that the method violated their Eighth Amendment right to be spared cruel and unusual punishment. The mix of drugs has been used in...

China Gets 'Gold Medal' for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

(Newser) - China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions,...

Court Skeptical of Challenge to Lethal Injection

Justices cite low chance of painful death, lack of better option

(Newser) - As the Supreme Court opened its hearing on lethal injection today, justices expressed serious doubts that the method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, the LA Times reports. Most of the panel, including Chief Justice John Roberts, seemed unconvinced that the three-chemical cocktail results in a painful death, or that...

Death Penalty Details Withheld
Death Penalty Details Withheld
Jan 7, 2008 8:56 AM CST

Death Penalty Details Withheld

As high court weighs lethal injection, actual methods are shrouded in secrecy

(Newser) - With a landmark case coming before the Supreme Court today on lethal injection, the Los Angeles Times examines the unusual secrecy that shrouds the execution method. Defense lawyers who argue that it inflicts unnecessary pain are routinely blocked from information about executioners and the drugs injected. States say such information...

States Drag Feet on 'Humane' Lethal Injections

Supreme Court ruling may

(Newser) - With the Supreme Court scrutinizing whether lethal injections constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," the New York Times wonders why none of the 38 states who use it have taken a simple step that could solve the problem: trade the three-drug sequence that's said to risk intense pain for...

Public Defender Gets Case to Supreme Court

Lethal-injection appeal filed by 29-year-old on docket next week

(Newser) - When the Supreme Court hears a case on the legality of a method of capital punishment next week—for the first time in over a century—it will be largely thanks to the toils of a 29-year-old assistant public defender, AP reports. David Barron filed the appeal on behalf of...

Executions Drop to 13-Year Low
Executions Drop to 13-Year Low
Dec 19, 2007 12:14 PM CST

Executions Drop to 13-Year Low

42 people put to death in '07; further decline could follow Court ruling

(Newser) - With the Supreme Court set to hear arguments Jan. 7 about lethal-injection procedures, figures show that US states executed just 42 people this year, a 13-year low. The case before the court has prompted states using lethal injection to execute inmates to stay pending executions; on Monday, New Jersey became...

Supreme Court Stops Another Execution

Justices halt lethal injection in Florida to review constitutionality

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today halted the execution of Florida man convicted of killing a child in 1991—another sign the court wants executions halted as it considers the constitutionality of lethal injection. Mark Dean Schwab was scheduled to die at 6 p.m., but he will now wait until the...

Court Blocks Another Execution
Court Blocks Another Execution
Oct 30, 2007 10:38 PM CDT

Court Blocks Another Execution

Supreme Court decision may halt all lethal injections for months

(Newser) - The Supreme Court tonight stayed the execution of a Mississippi murderer just before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, a decision that will likely bring a temporary halt to such executions nationwide, the New York Times reports. The fate of this prisoner and others won't be decided until...

A Death Penalty Moratorium?
A Death Penalty Moratorium?
Oct 19, 2007 9:19 PM CDT

A Death Penalty Moratorium?

Not so fast: the Supreme Court is sending mixed messages

(Newser) - Is there a stay on all US executions? The Supreme Court has recently granted 2 and refused to nix a third, as more inmates challenge lethal injection. “The states are getting the message,” says one expert, while another mentions “moratorium mojo” on his blog. But critics warn...

Supreme Court Halts Another Lethal Injection

Stay of execution for Virginia man could signal moratorium

(Newser) - The Supreme Court issued a stay of execution yesterday for Christopher Scott Emmett, four hours before the Virginia inmate was scheduled to die. Observers say the move signals a de facto moratorium on executions, as the court considers the legality of lethal injection. One expert called it “the most...

Last-Minute Stay Spares Nev. Murderer

State puts lethal injection on hold until next year's ruling

(Newser) - Nevada stayed a convicted killer's execution today, 90 minutes before he was to receive lethal injection, BBC reports. William Castillo's stay is the latest in a series of postponements by states awaiting a US Supreme Court ruling on lethal injection. The ACLU, which appealed Castillo's case, calls the method "...

Report Details Botched US Executions

Amnesty: Injection doesn't yield painless death as advertised

(Newser) - Despite advocates' claims, lethal injection isn’t humane or painless, and it should be stopped in the US, Amnesty International asserts in a new report. Since the practice was instituted in 37 states in 2000, at least nine lethal injections have been bungled, including one in which the condemned took...

Texas Executions at Standstill
Texas Executions at Standstill
Oct 3, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

Texas Executions at Standstill

Case before US Supreme Court used to stay death order

(Newser) - As the US Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of lethal-injection methods, a Texas appeals court yesterday stayed an execution order scheduled to be carried out tonight—bringing the country's busiest death row to a standstill. The Supreme Court is looking at a case brought by death-row inmates in Kentucky who...

Supreme Court Returns for a Big Session

Right-moving bench will rule on lethal injection, Gitmo prisoner rights

(Newser) - The Supreme Court enters its second session with Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito tomorrow, which means it will likely resume last session’s rightward slant, Reuters says. Before the court will be big cases on Guantanamo inmates’ right to habeas corpus, the legality of the lethal injection death...

Texas Won't Halt Executions, Despite Stay

State will stick to schedule after Supreme Court ruling

(Newser) - Texas officials plan to go forward with death-row executions, even as other states put them on hold in the wake of the Supreme Court's last-minute stay for Carlton Turner earlier this week. More stays like Turner's are expected in Texas as the court deliberates on the legality of lethal injections,...

Supreme Court Will Take Up Lethal Injection

Constitutionality at issue; docket also includes voting rights

(Newser) - The Supreme Court will take up the constitutionality of lethal injections in what a public defender called one of the most critical death penalty cases “in decades.” The challenge stems from a 2004 suit by two Kentucky inmates on death row who charged that the method constitutes cruel...

Georgia Man Faces Death Despite Collapsed Case

Since 1996, feds rarely step in on capital cases

(Newser) - A Georgia man is scheduled to be executed tomorrow even though the case against him has largely collapsed. Witnesses have recanted their statements and one confessed to lying in the trial of Troy Davis, convicted of murdering an off-duty cop in 1989. Prosecutors say the recanted testimony is not significant...

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