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October 11, 2008 5:36:11 AM CDT

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Lethal Injection Ruling Will Spur Executions, Lawsuits

Posted Apr 17, 08 10:42 AM CDT in Crime & Courts,  US 

(Newser) – Executions will resume in the United States, thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling on lethal injection yesterday, but so will lawsuits, the New York Times reports. By condoning methods “substantially similar” to Kentucky’s, the court has invited more challenges. “We have left the states with nothing resembling a bright-line rule,” said Clarence Thomas. “Today’s decision is sure to engender more litigation.”

Kentucky has provided little information about its procedure, so it’ll be tough to determine what’s “substantially similar” to it. Opponents can also attempt to prove that there is a risk of severe pain, compared with alternative methods. “We will end up largely where we were before,” said one law professor. Expect death penalty-friendly states like Texas to resume executions soon.

Source New York Times

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The Texas death chamber is shown May 19, 2000, in Huntsville, Texas.   (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)
This January 1996 file photo shows the entrance to the execution chamber and the lethal injection table at California's San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, Calif.   (AP Photo/California Department of Corrections)
In this November 2005 file photo, the death chamber at the Southern Ohio Corrections Facility is seen through a glass window from the witness room in Lucasville, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
Alabama's lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Ala., is pictured in this Oct. 7, 2002 file photo.   (AP Photo/File)
The "death bed" in the death chamber is separated by bars from the witness viewing room at the Walls Unit of the Texas Department of Corrections in Huntsville, Texas, in this Jan. 25, 1995 file photo.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, file)
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US Supreme Court  • death penalty  • John Roberts  • Kentucky  • lethal injection  • cruel and unusual punishment  • Clarence Thomas  • Baze v. Rees


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