Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 19, 2006 16:30:48 GMT -5
All eyes on Florida for death penalty showdown
The eyes of the nation will turn to Florida this week as combatants in the
longstanding debate over the death penalty watch to see who will blink in
a showdown between Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In January, the nation's high court stepped in to stop the execution of
Clarence Hill, who was moments away from being Florida's latest death row
inmate to be put to death by lethal injection, the method of choice for
most states that mete out the ultimate punishment.
Minutes before his scheduled demise, Justice Anthony Kennedy put a hold on
the procedure. The conservative jurist was responding to an appeal by
Hill's attorney that Florida's 3-drug death thingytail - a process that puts
an inmate to sleep, paralyzes the lungs, then triggers a heart attack -
was cruel and unusual because the inmate may feel pain but be unable to
respond.
Kennedy's ruling sent the case back to federal court to determine if
further hearings were needed. Last month, Bush signed another death
warrant for Hill, setting his execution date for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Bush's decision put the ball back in the court's court. Last week, a
federal judge in Tallahassee refused to take testimony on whether the
procedure itself was flawed. The case is now before the 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals, which could rule on the case as early as today.
Hill was sentenced to death more than 2 decades ago for the murder of a
law enforcement officer in Pensacola. He has so far survived 3 death
warrants.
What's pretty clear is that the case will return to the U.S. Supreme Court
before Wednesday. What's less clear is whether the high court will allow
the identical issue to come before them without any substantive hearings
lower down the chain. The 376 inmates on Florida's death row will likely
be paying attention.
(source: Bonita Daily News)
The eyes of the nation will turn to Florida this week as combatants in the
longstanding debate over the death penalty watch to see who will blink in
a showdown between Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and the U.S. Supreme Court.
In January, the nation's high court stepped in to stop the execution of
Clarence Hill, who was moments away from being Florida's latest death row
inmate to be put to death by lethal injection, the method of choice for
most states that mete out the ultimate punishment.
Minutes before his scheduled demise, Justice Anthony Kennedy put a hold on
the procedure. The conservative jurist was responding to an appeal by
Hill's attorney that Florida's 3-drug death thingytail - a process that puts
an inmate to sleep, paralyzes the lungs, then triggers a heart attack -
was cruel and unusual because the inmate may feel pain but be unable to
respond.
Kennedy's ruling sent the case back to federal court to determine if
further hearings were needed. Last month, Bush signed another death
warrant for Hill, setting his execution date for 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Bush's decision put the ball back in the court's court. Last week, a
federal judge in Tallahassee refused to take testimony on whether the
procedure itself was flawed. The case is now before the 11th Circuit Court
of Appeals, which could rule on the case as early as today.
Hill was sentenced to death more than 2 decades ago for the murder of a
law enforcement officer in Pensacola. He has so far survived 3 death
warrants.
What's pretty clear is that the case will return to the U.S. Supreme Court
before Wednesday. What's less clear is whether the high court will allow
the identical issue to come before them without any substantive hearings
lower down the chain. The 376 inmates on Florida's death row will likely
be paying attention.
(source: Bonita Daily News)