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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: lethal injection

lethal injection stories: 35 news summaries

1 - 20 of 35 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

UPDATED

 Beltway Sniper Executed 

John Allen Muhammad 'quiet and relaxed' before lethal injection

(Newser) - The state of Virginia executed John Allen Muhammad, the so-called Beltway sniper, tonight, with the man who led the 2002 shooting spree that killed 10 dying of lethal injection at 9:11 EST. The 48-year-old was “quiet and relaxed,” a prison official tells CBS’ Andrew Cohen . “I... More »

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lethal injection execution John Allen Muhammad Beltway Sniper

 Va. Gov 
 Denies 
 Clemency 
 to DC Sniper 

Muhammad will be executed tonight in Virginia

(Newser) - Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine has denied clemency for Beltway sniper John Allen Muhammad, clearing the way for Muhammad's execution at 9pm tonight. Muhammad, whose appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court yesterday, will die by lethal injection, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch . His 2002 shooting spree with younger accomplice Lee Boyd... More »

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Tim Kaine lethal injection execution clemency Virginia sniper John Allen Muhammad Lee Boyd Malvo Beltway Sniper

Failed Execution Cited in Stay for Another Man

Judge: halted lethal injection raises issues about Ohio protocol

(AP) - A federal appeals court today halted the execution of an Ohio inmate three weeks after problems with a lethal injection foiled another man's execution. The 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 to grant a stay to 43-year-old Lawrence Reynolds Jr., who had been sentenced to die for strangling... More »

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federal courts Ohio lethal injection execution US Appeals court Romell Broom Lawrence Reynolds

Ohio Con Wins Week Break After Botched Execution

Executioners struggled to find vein for 2 hours

(Newser) - An Ohio death row inmate was given a week-long reprieve by the governor yesterday after the execution team couldn't find a usable vein in over 2 hours of trying at his planned execution, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Rowell Broom, convicted of raping and killing a teen girl in 1984,... More »

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Ohio lethal injection execution capital punishment Ted Strickland Romell Broom

 New Mexico
Bans Death Penalty

Guv abolishes executions after wrestling with conscience

(Newser) - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has signed a bill abolishing the state's death penalty, reports the Santa Fe New Mexican. Richardson, who formerly supported capital punishment, said replacing execution with life in prison without the possibility of parole was “the most difficult decision of his political life.” He... More »

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death penalty Bill Richardson New Mexico lethal injection execution capital punishment

Texas Steps Up Executions
to Clear Logjam

State empties death row of 12 inmates
over 6 weeks

(AP) - A dozen condemned inmates in Texas's "death watch" cells are being executed at a scheduled rate of two a week through November. The executions relieve a logjam created when the US Supreme Court effectively halted lethal injections while deciding whether the method was unconstitutionally inhumane. It ruled the method... More »

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 Texas Defies UN,
 Executes Killer

World Court had ordered hearing

(Newser) - A Mexican national convicted of raping and murdering two girls was executed in Texas yesterday in defiance of an international court. Attorneys for Jose Medellin, 33, had argued that authorities violated an international treaty when Medellin was denied access to Mexican consular officials after his arrest, reports the Houston Chronicle.... More »

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death penalty United Nations Mexico murder lethal injection execution rape Border Patrol Jose Medellin Mexican consulate Jennifer Ertman Elizabeth Pena

 Ohio Killer:
 I'm Too Fat to Execute

He argues in lawsuit that executioners won't find a vein

(Newser) - A convicted killer and rapist on Ohio's death row is arguing in a lawsuit that he's too fat to be humanely executed. Lawyers for Richard Wade Cooey claim the 5'-7", 275-pound inmate is morbidly obese, and veins suitable for lethal injection would be difficult to find, reports the Columbus Post ... More »

Ohio Judge Rejects 3-Drug Lethal Injections

Orders state to change executions

(Newser) - An Ohio judge has ordered authorities to stop using a lethal three-drug cocktail for executions because it may cause excruciating pain. Instead,  the judge ruled in favor of a single lethal dose of a barbiturate used in animal euthanasia, the New York Times reports. State officials are reviewing the... More »

ANALYSIS

Supreme Court Expands Margins

5-4 votes that characterized last
term grow scarce

(Newser) - The Supreme Court divisions expected after Samuel Alito replaced Sandra Day O’Connor materialized last term but have since disappeared in a tide of consensus. Only one of 35 cases this term has been decided 5 to 4. Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times looks at a once-predictable panel... More »

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Antonin Scalia John Roberts lethal injection voter ID laws child pornography US Supreme Court consensus

updated

Ga. Executes Prisoner After Appeal Denied

It's the nation's first since Supreme Court ruled on the issue

(Newser) - Georgia executed William Earl Lynd by lethal injection tonight, the first such execution in the nation since the Supreme Court cleared the way for them to resume, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Lynd kidnapped and murdered his girlfriend in 1988. The death penalty had been on hold across the US for... More »

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 Ga. Plans First
 Execution Since
 Court Ruling 

William Earl Lynd denied clemency for two murders

(Newser) - A Georgia killer is slated to be the first US inmate to die by lethal injection since the Supreme Court ruled the method constitutional last month, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The state denied William Earl Lynd clemency today and plans to execute him tomorrow for killing his girlfriend and another... More »

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death penalty lethal injection Georgia capital punishment US Supreme Court

Execution Ban Lifted, States Ready the Death Chambers

With Supreme Court's blessing, officials move to play catch-up

(Newser) - States are getting ready to catch up on executions now that a Supreme Court moratorium has been lifted, the New York Times reports. At least 14 executions have been scheduled in six states in coming months. "The Supreme Court has essentially blessed their way of doing things," a... More »

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death penalty lethal injection execution capital punishment US Supreme Court

 Justices Deny 11 Capital Appeals 

Court passes on death-row cases following ruling upholding lethal injection

(Newser) - The Supreme Court today dismissed appeals from 11 death-row prisoners in seven states, including three who received last-minute stays of execution last year; the result was no surprise 1 week after the landmark ruling upholding lethal injection in Kentucky, the New York Times reports. The earlier opinion held that the... More »

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death penalty lethal injection appeal cruel and unusual punishment US Supreme Court

Lethal Injection Ruling Will Spur Executions, Lawsuits

Pro-death states will waste no time; lawsuits likely in others

(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... More »

Supreme Court Upholds
Kentucky Lethal Injection

Ruling clears way for other states to resume capital punishment

(Newser) - By a vote of 7-2, the Supreme Court upheld today the use of lethal injection by a three-drug cocktail. Two death row inmates in Kentucky had charged that the method violated their Eighth Amendment right to be spared cruel and unusual punishment. The mix of drugs has been used in... More »

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China Gets
'Gold Medal'
for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

(Newser) - China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions,... More »

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Court Skeptical of Challenge to Lethal Injection

Justices cite low chance of painful death, lack of better option

(Newser) - As the Supreme Court opened its hearing on lethal injection today, justices expressed serious doubts that the method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, the LA Times reports. Most of the panel, including Chief Justice John Roberts, seemed unconvinced that the three-chemical cocktail results in a painful death, or that... More »

Death Penalty Details Withheld

As high court weighs lethal injection, actual methods are shrouded in secrecy

(Newser) - With a landmark case coming before the Supreme Court today on lethal injection, the Los Angeles Times examines the unusual secrecy that shrouds the execution method. Defense lawyers who argue that it inflicts unnecessary pain are routinely blocked from information about executioners and the drugs injected. States say such information... More »

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death penalty California Texas Kentucky lethal injection execution Alabama death row cruel and unusual punishment US Supreme Court

(Newser) - With the Supreme Court scrutinizing whether lethal injections constitute "cruel and unusual punishment," the New York Times wonders why none of the 38 states who use it have taken a simple step that could solve the problem: trade the three-drug sequence that's said to risk intense pain for... More »

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death penalty crime lethal injection capital punishment cruel and unusual punishment US Supreme Court

1 - 20 of 35 Stories | 1 2 Next >>