Lethal Injections: In court, and in the news…

Federal courts in California and Missouri have recently delayed hearings in two separate high-profile cases involving lethal injections.  The delays will allow the parties more time to gather information.  The issue of lethal injection has recently emerged as one of the most important fronts in efforts to abolish the death penalty.  On April 24 Human Rights Watch issued a report calling on states to suspend the practice pending intensive review.  Quoting from their press release: “Incompetence, negligence, and irresponsibility by U.S. states put condemned prisoners at needless risk of excruciating pain during lethal injection executions.  Lethal injections are used in 37 of the 38 death penalty states in the United States and by the federal government. Every execution in 2005 was by lethal injection.  The 65-page report, “So Long as They Die: Lethal Injections in the United States,” reveals the slipshod history of executions by lethal injection, using a protocol created three decades ago with no scientific research, nor modern adaptation, and still unchanged today."  To read the report click here and the read the ten -page summary with recommendations click here.