U.S. Supreme Court stays execution amid lethal injection concerns

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the pending execution of a Virginia man convicted of beating a co-worker to death in 2001 for drug money.

It's the latest in a number of executions the court has blocked recently amid questions about the constitutionality of lethal injection -- the primary method of execution in all states with the death penalty.

Christopher Scott Emmett killed co-worker John Langley during a botched robbery in Danville, Virginia, by beating him to death as he slept, then used his cash to buy crack cocaine, according to documents filed in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He was set to die at 9 p.m. Wednesday.


The Supreme Court order stays Emmett's execution pending final disposition of the appeal by the 4th Circuit. But if the 4th Circuit allows the execution to proceed, another round of appeals to the high court would be expected.

The Supreme Court had rejected an earlier stay of execution in June, before agreeing to hear Kentucky cases on the constitutionality of lethal injection. Oral arguments in those cases will be held early next year

The high court's agreeing to hear the cases, however, has prompted a flood of appeals from capital defendants seeking execution stays or new hearings as a result of the court's intervention.


The justices, meanwhile, have stayed a number of pending executions, presumably until the larger constitutional questions surrounding the method of execution are settled.

With 42 people executed in the United States so far in 2007, the concerns may lead to the fewest number of executions in a year since 1996, when 45 people were put to death in the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

More?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/10/17...=googletoolbar

I believe lethal injection to be the most humane form of execution except for the guillotine! What's with today's society? We want to sanitize war and methods of execution to make these things more acceptable? I better watch what I say or the lefties will be calling me a right wing political radical ..

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

My "method of execution" is simple...

Slow...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

A little more about the actual claims involved...

All 37 states that perform lethal injections use the three-drug mixture at issue in the case.

Kentucky inmates Ralph Baze and Clyde Bowling Jr. brought suit in federal court three years ago, questioning the state's chemical mixture and the procedures used to administer it.

They claim the first drug -- sodium thiopental -- which renders the prisoner unconscious, wears off too quickly, and some prisoners are actually awake and able to feel pain as the execution continues.

The second drug -- pancuronium bromide -- paralyzes all muscle movement and prevents the condemned person from speaking out and expressing awareness of the pain, according to the men's lawyers.

The third drug -- potassium chloride -- then induces cardiac arrest and is "excruciatingly painful in a conscious person."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/25...ion/index.html

I wonder what evidence they have regarding the first drug wearing off.

And as for the second, what's the purpose if the prisoner is unconscious and can't feel the pain? Is it just so the audience doesn't see the prisoner convulse? Make it more "presentable" to the audience so they don't have to see the actual effects?

I'm aware of the issues involved with this case and nobody..well I take that back,most of us do not want to see the prisoner suffer needlessly! That said,I believe lethal injection to be the most humane form of capital punishment except for the guillotine,"if properly maintained" may have been even more merciful but I doubt we shall ever return to that method.Anyway,if in fact it does wear off too quickly,skip the second drug and go immediately to potassium chloride..

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

There are a bazillion junkies who die with a smile by overdosing.

Just use heroin.

(I'm actually against the death penalty)

I've always said that the government sould put piles of pure cocaine on the streets, wait a couple of weeks, then just sweep up the bodies...

Problem solved...

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"You get the respect that you give" - cnredd

I have been opposed to the death penalty for many years,so much so that I have alienated many family members over this issue.I have somewhat moderated my once staunch position on this issue. I find the DP acceptable when DNA supports the prosecutions claim or in cases of serial murders.I will never be "comfortable" with the DP but society has a right to demand justice and accountability for they who perpetrate the ultimate crime.

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"Destiny must be shaped and not left to mere chance."..Spencer Collins ..

I've done a 180 on my opinion of the death penalty. I used to have no problem being all for it--after all if you murdered somebody then why do you deserve to live? But now I'm not a fan of it at all. Too many people sitting on death row have been later exonerated by DNA evidence. What about the innocent people for whom there is no DNA evidence?

And besides, in all honesty I think I would prefer death to life in prison. I kind of see it as giving the criminals "the easy way out," but that's just me.

I find it repugnant that we tell people that killing is wrong by killing people.

Killing is killing - it makes no difference if a judge says 'okay - do it.'