Judge authorizes forced feeding of DC sniper News
Judge authorizes forced feeding of DC sniper

[JURIST] Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan issued an order Thursday allowing corrections officials to forcibly feed and hydrate John Allen Muhammad [Wikipedia profile], who received the death penalty [JURIST report] for a murder during the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks [Wikipedia backgrounder], if he did not voluntarily end his hunger strike. Muhammad, currently awaiting trial for six more murders committed during the attacks, had not eaten since his Monday transfer from death row [JURIST report] in Virginia to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility, leading doctors to conclude his health and life were at risk. He was allegedly upset that the facility did not accommodate his vegan diet or his desired schedule for meals and demanded more access to his legal materials. AP has more. The Baltimore Sun has local coverage.