Federal judge rules brain-wave monitor can be used to ensure no pain during execution News
Federal judge rules brain-wave monitor can be used to ensure no pain during execution

[JURIST] A federal judge on Monday ruled that North Carolina [JURIST news archive] officials could use a brain-wave monitor rather than have a doctor present to ensure a prisoner was not conscious during an execution by lethal injection. Lawyers for the inmate, Willie Brown Jr. [NCADP profile], said they would appeal the ruling, which they said could allow a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. US District Judge Malcolm J. Howard had previously ruled [order, PDF; News Observer report] that a doctor must be present to ensure that Brown feels no pain during his scheduled execution. Howard said Monday that prison medical team could use the monitor to make sure the Brown was unconscious when the final injection was administered.

Similar events in California in February resulted in the state being forced to delay [JURIST report] the execution of Michael Morales after doctors who were supposed to observe withdrew due to ethical concerns. The American Medical Association [group website] ethical code prohibits doctors from participating directly in executions. The result has been a virtual moratorium [JURIST report] on executions in California. The New York Times has more [registration required].

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.