Pausing the Machinery of Death: The Supreme Court Takes Baze
JURIST Guest Columnist Alison Nathan of Fordham University School of Law says that in the wake of the US Supreme Court's grant of certiorari in the Baze v. Rees Kentucky lethal injection case, the pending executions of inmates who have...
Texas executes inmate despite pending Supreme Court lethal injection review
Texas continued with the lethal injection execution of a convicted murderer Tuesday, despite the US Supreme Court's grant of certiorari in a case reviewing whether the method is cruel and unusual and therefore unconstitutional. On Tuesday,...
The US Supreme Court on Tuesday granted certiorari in 17 cases for the October Term 2007, among them notable cases dealing with lethal injection, voter ID laws and subsequently seized evidence....
Federal judge rules Tennessee lethal injection procedure 'cruel and inhumane'
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Tennessee's execution procedures constitute "cruel and unusual" punishment, derailing plans to execute a death row inmate next week. US District Judge Aleta Trauger held that revised death penalty protocols [PDF text;...
Tennessee high court allows execution of people with late-onset mental retardation
The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the state can execute a defendant who begins to exhibit symptoms comparable with mental retardation after the age of 18. Under Tennessee's criminal code , mental retardation is...
A warrant signed Wednesday by Florida Governor Charlie Crist ended the state's temporary suspension on executions. The ban was instituted last December by then-Governor Jeb Bush after the botched execution of Angel Diaz ,...
Estate of executed inmate sues Ohio prison chief over botched injection process
The mother of Joseph Lewis Clark, a convicted murderer whose 2006 execution took approximately 90 minutes , Tuesday filed a federal lawsuit against Director Terry Collins of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction ...
Missouri governor signs law keeping identities of executioners confidential
Missouri Governor Matt Blunt Monday announced the signing of a bill intended to protect the identities of individuals who provide direct support for the administration of the death penalty, formally prohibiting the...
A three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled unanimously Monday that Missouri's lethal injection procedures do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment , making it possible for lethal injections...
Michael Anthony Taylor v. Larry Crawford, Director, Missouri Department of Corrections; James D. Purkett, Superintendent, Eastern Reception Diagnostic & Correctional Center, US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, June 4, 2007 [holding that Missouri's lethal injection procedures do not...
