[JURIST] Missouri officials executed death row inmate Cecil Clayton early Wednesday morning after the US Supreme Court [official website] and Governor Jay Nixon denied [press release] his requested stay of execution. Clayton, 74, was convicted and sentenced to death for shooting a sheriff’s deputy in 1996. Clayton’s attorneys argued [AP report] that he was incompetent to understand the circumstances of his actions based on his IQ of 71 and fourth grade reading level. However, Nixon stated that Clayton was competent based on the determination at trial in 1997 and a 2014 examination by the Department of Mental Health, which deemed him competent to be executed. Clayton’s execution is the second by the state of Missouri this year.

Use of the death penalty [JURIST backgrounder] has been a controversial issue throughout the US. After several botched executions, numerous states have refused to disclose the compounding pharmacies for their lethal injection drugs. Last week the Alabama House of Representatives voted to keep execution drug suppliers’ names secret [JURIST report] and to bring back the use of the electric chair when chemicals for lethal injection are not available. Also last week the Utah State Legislature gave final approval to a bill that will allow execution by firing squad [JURIST report] if lethal injection drugs are unavailable. Last month US Attorney General Eric Holder voiced his support for a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty pending a decision by the Supreme Court on the Oklahoma death penalty case [JURIST reports].