John Cummings [staff attorney and co-counsel to, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet]: "The decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Baze v. Rees represents a sweeping vindication of the Commonwealth of Kentucky's execution procedures against constitutional attack. The plurality opinion confirms that the safeguards contained in Kentucky's lethal injection protocol eliminate any substantial risk of harm to condemned inmates. The decision also confirms the competence and professionalism of the Department of Corrections personnel who carry out the protocol. The standard announced in the plurality opinion will greatly simplify, if not eliminate, the repetitious litigation challenging the constitutionality of similar lethal injection protocols in other States across the nation."