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Supreme Court OKs One-Drug Execution

Ohio killer had argued new method would be painful

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Dec 8, 2009 9:40 AM CST

(Newser) – The Supreme Court today refused to halt the execution of an Ohio inmate, clearing the way for the nation's first death sentence to be carried out with a new single-drug injection. Kenneth Biros, the killer who scattered a woman’s body across several states, had argued that the new method would be painful. But experts say that, while it will take longer to kill him, it will not cause pain.

The single-drug injection is intended to stave off legal challenges to Ohio’s traditional three-drug cocktail, which death penalty opponents say can cause extreme pain.

A sign posted by people against the death penalty hangs outside the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility before the execution of Kenneth Biros Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, in Lucasville, Ohio.
A sign posted by people against the death penalty hangs outside the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility before the execution of Kenneth Biros Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009, in Lucasville, Ohio.   (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
In this undated file photo released by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Kenneth Biros is shown.
In this undated file photo released by Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, Kenneth Biros is shown.   (AP Photo/Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 12 comments
riffran
Dec 9, 2009 6:47 AM CST
a bullet is cheaper
spraynard
Dec 8, 2009 8:37 AM CST
Look at it this way, if you must - one drug is cheaper than three. All the muscle relaxant was for was to prevent convulsions and make the death easier to watch. Problem is, sometimes it would paralyze them and make them experience the execution fully conscious but unable to react. Why spend the extra money on that?
NxBigmouthery
Dec 8, 2009 8:18 AM CST
If people take the position that capital sentences are a valid form of punishment, it hardly surprises that many of these people consider the method/safety/humanity of execution secondary. They therefore disrespect their own Constitution, favouring instead the 'cruel' punishment of retribution. The entire reason the argument around 'humane' execution exists is because its enshrined in the Eighth Amendment.

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