High Court Upholds Lethal Injections

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the most common method of lethal injection executions, likely clearing the way to resume executions that have been on hold for nearly 7 months.

The justices, by a 7-2 vote, turned back a constitutional challenge to the procedures in place in Kentucky, which uses three drugs to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates. Similar methods are used by roughly three dozen states.

In Oklahoma, one of the states to use the three-drug procedure, Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson acted to halt executions in October pending U.S. Supreme Court action in the Kentucky Case.

The ruling has big consequences nationwide, reports CBS News correspondent Wyatt Andrews. First off, the 36 states in the federal government that use lethal injections have essentially made lethal injection the only form of executions commonly used now in the United States. For the last several months, while it reviews this lethal injection challenge, the justices have been issuing stay after stay of execution in states around America, in effect putting in a moratorium on capital punishment itself.

Andrews notes that by saying that lethal injection is not cruel and unusual punishment, it does two things:

• It lifts that de facto moratorium that the states were recognizing while the justices reviewed this.



• And it states flatly that lethal injections can go forward from now on, because the people who have been challenging lethal injections have not proved, according to the chief justice and the six other justices that voted with him, that lethal injections are cruel and unusual.

The immediate effect of Edmondson's action was to delay the execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Terry Lyn Short, who lost his final appeal was waiting to have his execution date set.

"We ... agree that petitioners have not carried their burden of showing that the risk of pain from maladministration of a concededly humane lethal injection protocol, and the failure to adopt untried and untested alternatives, constitute cruel and unusual punishment," Chief Justice John Roberts said in an opinion that garnered only three votes. Four other justices, however, agreed with the outcome.

Roberts' opinion did leave open subsequent challenges to lethal injection practices if a state refused to adopt an alternative method that significantly reduced the risk of severe pain.

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented.

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[nodemotwit]

I believe in the death roll.
I don''t believe in it taking so long to do it.
Posted by AuntieConnie

I agree 100%.
It always amazes me how the pro-criminal, perp-is-the-victim liberal crowd trumpets the relatively recent DNA testing performed on behalf of a small subset of death row inmates, and their subsequent (and rightful) release, as being the reason that the death penalty must be COMPLETELY eliminated.

And I, for one, am all for setting the
''truly innocent'' free,
-BUT-
why can''t that same DNA technology NOW be used to speed up the execution of the ''truly guilty''?

The traditional liberal reply to that is that DNA testing mistakes can be made, therefore we can''t risk it. So apparently, to liberals, DNA testing related to getting people off death row is 100% perfectly reliable,
yet the exact same DNA tests can''t be trusted to expedite a perps execution. Funny how that works.

Decades ago there used to be the concept of a ''hard-labor'' component to sentencing. Today when murderers are condemned to life in prison, what are they faced with ?
A lifetime of :
__free medical care,
__free food
__bed with fresh linen
__air conditioning and heat
__exercise, and
__reading materials.

All at taxpayer expense.
Wow.
I bet each one at his/her sentencing was just begging for the death penalty.

Hmmm. Coddling criminals. Is that something liberals tend to do, or is it the conservatives?
Yet we all reap what is sewn.

[mtdrmbland]

GREAT!!!! Now TEXAS can go and punish ALL the sexual predators in the polygamous compound !!! Good thing they decided to live in TEXAS !!!!

[reel-crazy]

The momentary pain inflicted to these death row inmates is far less than the enduring pain and mental anguish the living victims will have to suffer for the rest of their lives as responsible members of humanity.

What about the final moments the deceased innocent victims suffered before they died at the expense of these worthless death row inmates?

Personally, I hope they feel every inner nerve ending ablaze with excruciating agony. I only wish they would televise these lethal injections so future murderers as well as these numerous wanna-be gangster punks, who randomly shoot innocent folks, can see what fate lies ahead for them.

They will get NO sympathy from me in their final moments, I assure you....

[jamurphy4]

I hope that they do them all on the same day, so we don''t have to pay for their upkeep.. The scum of the Earth should be dealt with quickly, so they can''t escape an commit more crimes.. Good move by the Court.. Yeaaaa!

[beehive21-2009]

Yea ,kill em all.

[CBSTV]

When I read reports such as this about our government killing its citizens, I feel as though I''ve time traveled back to when people lived in caves and grunted to communicate. It is sad to me that people in an otherwise advanced society continue to be bloodthirsty and depraved.

The color red in the United States flag does not mean "hardiness and valor." It stands for America''s affinity for violence.

[haoli25]

Texas will have to open an ''Express Lane'' - four felonies or less, to get caught up again!

[trenticus-2009]

Okay, I am an advocate for capital punishment. Now these killers are whining that lethal injection is painful???? I say put a target on their forehead and have sharp-shooters plant one in the brain pan! I understand that this is instant and painless. At least you don''t hear them squeal in pain so it must be painless. Unlike their victims!

[haoli25]

Think of it as gene pool therapy.

[eje153]

So does that mean that Euthanasia is acceptable also?