Post by Anja Nieser on Oct 1, 2006 5:30:12 GMT -5
Deciding How To Die
A condemned Tennessee inmate is asking a federal judge to halt his
upcoming execution, claiming state prison officials have violated his
civil rights by forcing him to choose the manner in which he will die.
Donnie Edward Johnson-who is scheduled to be put to death Oct. 25-filed a
lawsuit today...
A condemned Tennessee inmate is asking a federal judge to halt his
upcoming execution, claiming state prison officials have violated his
civil rights by forcing him to choose the manner in which he will die.
Donnie Edward Johnson-who is scheduled to be put to death Oct. 25-filed a
lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court in Nashville claiming it's
unconstitutional for the state to compel a prisoner to choose between
lethal injection or electrocution. The Memphis man has spent the past two
decades on death row since he was convicted of first-degree murder in 1985
for killing his wife.
Earlier this year, Johnson asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to postpone
his execution date until after the gubernatorial election in November to
prevent politics from playing any role in his clemency process. The
Supreme Court refused, and now he's seeking reprieve via federal court.
The rather unorthodox lawsuit argues that forcing Johnson to decide how he
should die infringes upon his First Amendment right to freedom of
religion, and that such a practice is "offensive to his religious
beliefs." Also in jeopardy is Johnson's Eighth Amendment right to be free
from cruel and unusual punishment, according to the lawsuit, which
suggests that having to choose between dying by lethal injection or the
electric chair is both cruel and unusual.
Johnson is asking the court to halt his execution, and to declare as
unconstitutional the section of the Tennessee State Code that authorizes
lethal injection as a means of execution and outlines the practice of a
prisoner choosing between that method and the electric chair.
In light of the impending execution date, Judge Todd Campbell has ordered
that responses be filed no later than Oct. 3 by the two defendants named
in the lawsuit: George Little, Tennessee's commissioner of correction, and
Ricky Bell, warden of the Riverbend maximum-security prison in Nashville,
where Johnson is being held.
(source: Nashville Scene)
A condemned Tennessee inmate is asking a federal judge to halt his
upcoming execution, claiming state prison officials have violated his
civil rights by forcing him to choose the manner in which he will die.
Donnie Edward Johnson-who is scheduled to be put to death Oct. 25-filed a
lawsuit today...
A condemned Tennessee inmate is asking a federal judge to halt his
upcoming execution, claiming state prison officials have violated his
civil rights by forcing him to choose the manner in which he will die.
Donnie Edward Johnson-who is scheduled to be put to death Oct. 25-filed a
lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court in Nashville claiming it's
unconstitutional for the state to compel a prisoner to choose between
lethal injection or electrocution. The Memphis man has spent the past two
decades on death row since he was convicted of first-degree murder in 1985
for killing his wife.
Earlier this year, Johnson asked the Tennessee Supreme Court to postpone
his execution date until after the gubernatorial election in November to
prevent politics from playing any role in his clemency process. The
Supreme Court refused, and now he's seeking reprieve via federal court.
The rather unorthodox lawsuit argues that forcing Johnson to decide how he
should die infringes upon his First Amendment right to freedom of
religion, and that such a practice is "offensive to his religious
beliefs." Also in jeopardy is Johnson's Eighth Amendment right to be free
from cruel and unusual punishment, according to the lawsuit, which
suggests that having to choose between dying by lethal injection or the
electric chair is both cruel and unusual.
Johnson is asking the court to halt his execution, and to declare as
unconstitutional the section of the Tennessee State Code that authorizes
lethal injection as a means of execution and outlines the practice of a
prisoner choosing between that method and the electric chair.
In light of the impending execution date, Judge Todd Campbell has ordered
that responses be filed no later than Oct. 3 by the two defendants named
in the lawsuit: George Little, Tennessee's commissioner of correction, and
Ricky Bell, warden of the Riverbend maximum-security prison in Nashville,
where Johnson is being held.
(source: Nashville Scene)