April 16 USA: Supreme Court upholds Kentucky's use of lethal injections The Supreme Court upheld Kentucky's use of lethal injection executions Wednesday. The justices, by a 7-2 vote, turned back a constitutional challenge to the procedures in place in Kentucky, which uses 3 drugs to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates. "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 3 votes. Four other justices, however, agreed with the outcome. Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter dissented. Executions have been on hold since September, when the court agreed to hear the Kentucky case. There was no immediate indication when they would resume. The argument against the 3-drug protocol is that if the initial anesthetic does not take hold, the other 2 drugs can cause excruciating pain. One of those drugs, a paralytic, would render the prisoner unable to express his discomfort. The case before the court came from Kentucky, where 2 death row inmates did not ask to be spared execution or death by injection. Instead, they wanted the court to order a switch to a single drug, a barbiturate, that causes no pain and can be given in a large enough dose to cause death. At the very least, they said, the state should be required to impose tighter controls on the three-drug process to ensure that the anesthetic is given properly. Kentucky has had only one execution by lethal injection and it did not present any obvious problems, both sides in the case agreed. But executions elsewhere, in Florida and Ohio, took much longer than usual, with strong indications that the prisoners suffered severe pain in the process. Workers had trouble inserting the IV lines that are used to deliver the drugs. (source: Associated Press) ********************* Court Rejects Lethal Injection Challenge----Executions Had Been on Hold Nationwide While Justices Considered Case The Supreme Court has upheld the three-drug lethal injection method used by the state of Kentucky in a 7-2 decision, clearing the way for a nationwide stay on executions to be lifted. Chief Justice John Roberts penned the case opinion, while two Justices, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David Souter, dissented. The two convicted murderers at the center of the case, Ralph Baze and Thomas C. Bowling, had unwittingly caused an unofficial moratorium on executions across the country. Since the high court took their case last September, no executions were carried out as state and federal courts waited to see how the Supreme Court was going to rule. Of the 36 states with a death penalty law on the books, all but one has designated lethal injection as the primary method of execution. Baze and Bowling had argued that death by lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. The drugs included in the protocol are sodium thiopental, which anesthetizes; pancuronium bromide, which paralyzes; and potassium chloride, which causes cardiac arrest. Lawyers for the inmates argued that the drugs are administered by untrained officials who can botch the execution and cause extreme pain. They also argued that other drug combinations could be more effective in carrying out the death penalty. Donald Verrilli, an attorney for the Kentucky inmates, has said, "It really is not about fine-tuning the system to create an incrementally less amount of pain. This is about avoiding torture." But in court, the justices seemed skeptical of the argument. Conservative Justice Antonin Scalia said, "Where does this come from that you must find the method of execution that causes the least pain? We have approved electrocution. We have approved death by firing squad. I expect both of those have more possibilities of painful death than the protocol here." There have been instances across the country of fumbled executions. In Florida, convicted murderer Angel Diaz was executed in 2006. But a medical examiner's postmortem examination revealed that due to the improper injection of the anesthetic in his case, he had chemical burns on both arms. Experts believe he would have felt extreme pain for 20 to 30 minutes. In Ohio, Joseph Clark was sentenced to death for killing a gas station attendant. But his 2006 execution was botched. It took him 86 minutes to die while he screamed in pain. Even his victim's brother, Michael Manning, watched in horror. "He started to shake his head from side to side," said Manning. It took a technician 19 tries to insert the deadly intravenous needle. Manning said what he saw in that execution chamber should not have happened. "I believe in the death penalty, but I side on the constitutionality side of it. The Eighth Amendment says no cruel and unusual punishment, and that's what I think it was." In Missouri, the doctor who devised and supervised that state's lethal injection procedure has admitted in court that he is dyslexic, "so it's not unusual for me to make mistakes." An investigation by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed that the doctor, Alan R. Doerhoff, had been sued for malpractice more than 20 times. The paper also reported that one nurse who worked on Missouri executions is himself a convicted stalker. But victims' rights advocates, as well as victims' family members, often have little sympathy for the arguments of the death row inmates. Dennis Briscoe was 14 years old when Baze opened fire with an assault weapon and murdered his father and uncle -- both Kentucky law enforcement officers. "What they should really consider is the pain my father and uncle went through when that happened," he said. "We should all be so lucky as to just fall asleep when we die." Before the Supreme Court's ruling, Richard Dieter of the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes the death penalty, acknowledged that death penalty cases wouldn't be overturned based on the High Court ruling. He said, "This is going to be a limited ruling in the end that changes our methods or tweaks the method of execution but doesn't stop it completely." Dieter said that documented cases in which executions have been bungled convinced the court that it needed to take up the issue. "This sort of carelessness that has been used by the states has pushed the court to say, we want to review this. This is a national issue; all executions are virtually by the same methods. It's time that it came under our review." (source: ABC News) **************** Supreme Court to hear challenges to death penalty for child rapists----The decision could weaken a similar law passed in Texas last year The U.S. Supreme Court will hear challenges today to a Louisiana law allowing the death penalty for child rapists. The court's decision could weaken a similar law passed in Texas last year. Justices will consider the case of Patrick Kennedy, a Louisiana man who was sentenced to death in 2003 for the rape of his stepdaughter when she was 8 years old. At issue is whether a Louisiana law allowing the death penalty for the rape of a child younger than 12 violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. David Bruck, a defense lawyer who has successfully argued 6 death penalty cases in the Supreme Court, said a decision that the Louisiana law is unconstitutional could also nullify the death penalty provision in what is known in Texas as Jessica's Law. That law, passed last year, permits the death penalty, or life in prison without parole, for the 2nd conviction of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than 14. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Monday that the Texas law was crafted to withstand a constitutional challenge and that it is substantially different from the Louisiana law, pointing out that in Texas, two convictions are required before the death penalty can be sought. "In the unlikely event the Supreme Court rules the death penalty is unconstitutional," Dewhurst said, "Texas' law would remain in effect without the death penalty provision, allowing prosecutors to seek a life in prison without the possibility of parole." Nobody has been sentenced to death under the Texas law. In a 1977 case, Coker v. Georgia, the Supreme Court said the death penalty was an excessive sentence for the rape of a 16-year-old because the defendant did not take a life. Opponents of the Louisiana law say that argument still stands. "The rape of a child is not equivalent to killing a child," Bruck said. But the Louisiana Supreme Court, in upholding Kennedy's death sentence, noted that the Coker ruling referred to the 16-year-old victim as an adult. That left an opening for states to use the death penalty in cases involving children, the court said. In two recent cases, the U.S. Supreme Court has cited a national consensus against using the death penalty as a punishment for crimes committed by juveniles and people with mental retardation. The country's acceptance, or lack thereof, of the death penalty as a punishment is also a key issue in the Louisiana case. At least five states have laws, all passed since 1995, allowing the death penalty for rape of a child, although Louisiana's is the only one that allows it for first-time offenders. A brief from Texas and other states supporting Louisiana argues that state lawmakers should be able to adopt capital punishment laws that reflect the moral judgments of their citizens. Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz will have 15 minutes to argue for those states before the Supreme Court today. "The Supreme Court has never addressed this issue in the context of child rape," Cruz said in a written statement. The nine states that have sided with Louisiana in the case "are united in believing that the Constitution permits democratically elected legislatures to choose to allow the most serious punishments for the very worst child rapists." Lawyers arguing against the Louisiana law say that 44 states prohibit the death penalty in such cases and that prosecutors hardly ever seek the death penalty where it is allowed. Of the 3,300 people on death row in the United States, just 2 in Louisiana were convicted of crimes not related to murder, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. "Patrick Kennedy has clearly been sentenced to a punishment that does not enjoy the tolerance or the support of the American people," said Bruck, who sits on the board of directors at the center. Judy Benitez, director of the Louisiana Foundation against Sexual Assault, said the death penalty in such cases discourages children from reporting the crime, because the perpetrator is often a family member or someone whom the victim knows. She also said the possibility of getting the death penalty could cause a rapist to kill the victim, who is the only witness to the crime. (source: Austin American-Statesman) ********************** U.S. Supreme Court to hear Texas argue death penalty for child rapists Texas says sometimes the sexual assault of a child can be so violent or obscene that the only appropriate punishment is to execute the offender. And Wednesday, Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz will make that case to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that state legislatures have the constitutional right to allow the death penalty for child rapists. The case before the court, Kennedy vs. Louisiana, concerns a Louisiana law and the case of a Jefferson Parrish, La., man convicted of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter. But striking down that law could call into question Texas' 2007 "Jessicas Law," which allows the execution of certain repeat child sex offenders. The Supreme Court ruled 30 years ago that death was an excessive penalty for the aggravated rape of a 16 year-old girl. But Mr. Cruz said that decision implicitly left open the door for capital punishment for the rape of children in referring to that victim as an adult. "The damage inflicted on this 8-year-old girl will remain with her every day of her life," Mr. Cruz said. "The Constitution does not prohibit elected legislatures from making the determination that the most egregious forms of child rape should permit the jury to impose the most serious sentence." But the prospect of capital punishment could lead to fewer abuses being reported because most child sexual abuse is committed by someone known to and even loved by the victims, said Judy Benitez, executive director of Louisiana Federation Against Sexual Assault. The group is leading a coalition of victims groups opposed to applying the death penalty for child rapes, including the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault. "These are extremely manipulative people," she said. "They say to the child, 'If you tell, you're going to make the police come and take me away, and then how is Mom going to pay the bills.' They put it very much on the child." The groups also argue that if the death penalty can be imposed for child rape, it could make some offenders more likely to kill their victims to prevent them from testifying, she said. Aside from the moral arguments, David Bruck, executive director of the Virginia Capital Case Clearinghouse at Washington and Lee Law School, said Mr. Cruz and the lawyers for Louisiana face serious legal hurdles. "The Supreme Court doesn't take very many easy cases, but this should be one," he said. "The rape of a child is not the same as killing a child, that's basically what the court said [in 1977]. Horrible as the crime is, it is not equivalent." Mr. Bruck said the court could strike down the Louisiana law and leave Texas' statute intact because it more narrowly restricts cases in which the death penalty could apply. A ruling is expected later this year. (source: ************** The Limits of the Death Penalty In recent decades, the Supreme Court has looked for ways to limit the death penalty, but it hears arguments today in a case that could reverse that trend and extend capital punishment to additional crimes. The court should stand by its past rulings that murder is the only crime committed by one person against another that can be punished by death. The current case involves a horrific crime. Patrick Kennedy was found guilty of raping his 8-year-old stepdaughter and was given a death sentence. There appear to be questions about the strength of the case against Mr. Kennedy, but his lawyers objection to the sentence, and the issue before the Supreme Court, is that executing him would be unconstitutional. Since it reinstated capital punishment, the court has held that the Eighth Amendments bar on cruel and unusual punishment prohibits applying it to some defendants, such as the mentally retarded, and to certain crimes. In a 1977 case involving the rape of an adult, Coker v. Georgia, the court said "the death penalty, which is unique in its severity and irrevocability, is an excessive penalty for the rapist who, as such, does not take human life." Since then, the court has repeatedly interpreted Coker as holding that the death penalty cannot be applied in cases of person-on-person violence other than murder or reckless disregard for life. It has barred it for kidnapping and for some accomplices to murder. (The applicability of the death penalty to mass crimes like espionage and treason is a separate question.) Louisiana thought it saw an opening in Coker, however, in cases of child rape, which the decision did not expressly mention. The state passed a law making rape of a victim younger than 12 punishable by death. We believe capital punishment is always wrong and unconstitutional, but there are more specific reasons not to affirm Mr. Kennedy's sentence. If it did so, the court would be overturning its own well-settled precedents. It would also be rejecting a nearly national consensus. Louisiana is one of just a handful of states that punish child rape with death, and the only one that does so for first-time criminals. No other Western nations do that, and the few countries that do including Saudi Arabia and Egypt are not ones to emulate. If the court allows the death penalty for child rape, it would be opening the door for the same punishment to be extended to other crimes. That would be wrong, particularly now, when the growing number of cases of innocent people being freed from death row is turning popular opinion against capital punishment. The court should reverse Mr. Kennedys unconstitutional sentence. (source: Editorial, New York Times)
[Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA
Rick Halperin Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:06:55 -0500 (Central Daylight Time)
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin
- [Deathpenalty] death penalty news----USA Rick Halperin