Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 13, 2006 16:38:21 GMT -5
Missouri Plan for Executions Rejected Again----The revised process for
lethal injections fails to prevent unnecessary pain, a federal judge says.
The state has until Oct. 27 to resubmit it.
A federal judge in Missouri on Tuesday rejected that state's lethal
injection procedure for the 3rd time, saying it was inadequate to ensure
that condemned inmates did not suffer unnecessary pain during executions.
Although Missouri's revised protocol "is an improvement over the previous
procedures . it falls short of providing the critical constitutional
protections required," U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. said. He
gave the state until Oct. 27 to submit a new protocol for carrying out
executions.
In June, Gaitan ordered a halt to executions in Missouri until the state
changed its lethal injection procedures. The judge said he was
particularly troubled that the doctor responsible for mixing the 3-drug
thingytail used in Missouri executions was dyslexic and had admitted during
a hearing that he had difficulty reading numbers.
Gaitan said the Missouri Department of Corrections should require a
board-certified anesthesiologist to mix the drugs, institute better
monitoring so adequate anesthesia was administered, and form a contingency
plan in case a problem developed during an execution.
The effects of the Missouri case probably will be felt elsewhere because
similar challenges to lethal injection procedures are pending in several
states, including California; a federal judge in San Jose has scheduled a
Sept. 26 hearing on the issue.
Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, an expert on
methods of punishment, said Tuesday that Gaitan had demonstrated that
"judges have to be legally and medically hands-on with the lethal
injection process to achieve" the goal of an execution that passes
constitutional muster.
Missouri has executed 66 people by lethal injection since the Supreme
Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976 - the 4th-highest total in
the nation. The 37 states that use lethal injection employ a 3-drug
procedure. The 1st drug is sodium thiopental, a sedative; the 2nd,
pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the prisoner; the 3rd, potassium chloride,
stops the heart.
The suit filed on behalf of Michael Taylor, who was sentenced to death for
the 1989 murder of a 15-year-old girl, asserts that the procedure masks
pain during an execution, rather than preventing it.
Missouri officials submitted a revised procedure in July but said they had
contacted 298 anesthesiologists in Missouri and southern Illinois and none
was willing to participate in executions. Gaitan ruled that the changes
were insufficient to pass constitutional muster. Missouri officials,
arguing the judge overstepped his bounds in requiring a board-certified
anesthesiologist, asked a federal appeals court in St. Louis to overturn
the ruling. The appeals court sent the case back to Gaitan without ruling
on that issue.
On Tuesday, Gaitan said that although he still preferred a board-certified
anesthesiologist, he would permit the state to use "a physician with
training in the application and administration of anesthesia to either mix
the chemicals or oversee the mixing of the chemicals for lethal
injections." Gaitan also said "the state may have to purchase additional
equipment in order to adequately monitor anesthetic depth" to ensure that
inmates are sufficiently anesthetized before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are
administered. He did not provide specifics.
Neither Missouri officials nor Taylor's attorneys had any immediate
comment on the ruling.
(source: Los Angeles Times)
lethal injections fails to prevent unnecessary pain, a federal judge says.
The state has until Oct. 27 to resubmit it.
A federal judge in Missouri on Tuesday rejected that state's lethal
injection procedure for the 3rd time, saying it was inadequate to ensure
that condemned inmates did not suffer unnecessary pain during executions.
Although Missouri's revised protocol "is an improvement over the previous
procedures . it falls short of providing the critical constitutional
protections required," U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. said. He
gave the state until Oct. 27 to submit a new protocol for carrying out
executions.
In June, Gaitan ordered a halt to executions in Missouri until the state
changed its lethal injection procedures. The judge said he was
particularly troubled that the doctor responsible for mixing the 3-drug
thingytail used in Missouri executions was dyslexic and had admitted during
a hearing that he had difficulty reading numbers.
Gaitan said the Missouri Department of Corrections should require a
board-certified anesthesiologist to mix the drugs, institute better
monitoring so adequate anesthesia was administered, and form a contingency
plan in case a problem developed during an execution.
The effects of the Missouri case probably will be felt elsewhere because
similar challenges to lethal injection procedures are pending in several
states, including California; a federal judge in San Jose has scheduled a
Sept. 26 hearing on the issue.
Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno, an expert on
methods of punishment, said Tuesday that Gaitan had demonstrated that
"judges have to be legally and medically hands-on with the lethal
injection process to achieve" the goal of an execution that passes
constitutional muster.
Missouri has executed 66 people by lethal injection since the Supreme
Court reinstituted capital punishment in 1976 - the 4th-highest total in
the nation. The 37 states that use lethal injection employ a 3-drug
procedure. The 1st drug is sodium thiopental, a sedative; the 2nd,
pancuronium bromide, paralyzes the prisoner; the 3rd, potassium chloride,
stops the heart.
The suit filed on behalf of Michael Taylor, who was sentenced to death for
the 1989 murder of a 15-year-old girl, asserts that the procedure masks
pain during an execution, rather than preventing it.
Missouri officials submitted a revised procedure in July but said they had
contacted 298 anesthesiologists in Missouri and southern Illinois and none
was willing to participate in executions. Gaitan ruled that the changes
were insufficient to pass constitutional muster. Missouri officials,
arguing the judge overstepped his bounds in requiring a board-certified
anesthesiologist, asked a federal appeals court in St. Louis to overturn
the ruling. The appeals court sent the case back to Gaitan without ruling
on that issue.
On Tuesday, Gaitan said that although he still preferred a board-certified
anesthesiologist, he would permit the state to use "a physician with
training in the application and administration of anesthesia to either mix
the chemicals or oversee the mixing of the chemicals for lethal
injections." Gaitan also said "the state may have to purchase additional
equipment in order to adequately monitor anesthetic depth" to ensure that
inmates are sufficiently anesthetized before the 2nd and 3rd drugs are
administered. He did not provide specifics.
Neither Missouri officials nor Taylor's attorneys had any immediate
comment on the ruling.
(source: Los Angeles Times)