As you can see from the number of posts today, it's a busy time. Doug Berman at Sentencing Law and Policy picked up three stories relating to LI challenges. Here's part of his post:
Lots of headlines nationwide about a variety of lethal injection litigation development. All of these stories come from the AP:
Here's the Missouri report via the Missourian.
The Missouri Department of Corrections has informed the appeals court considering the state’s lethal injection procedures that it will no longer use the services of a dyslexic surgeon for future lethal injection executions.
Alan Doerhoff of Jefferson City, who oversaw Missouri executions for years and is known in court records as John Doe I, has been at the center of the state’s lethal injection debate.
He came under criticism after disclosing in testimony last year that he occasionally altered the amount of anesthetic given to inmates, and following media reports that he’d been sued for malpractice more than 20 times.
The Tennessee report is here.
Tennessee released its revised rules for executions Monday, and the new procedure still includes the injection of a lethal three-drug cocktail that opponents have called needlessly cruel.
Gov. Phil Bredesen ordered a 90-day reprieve in February to review the state's execution procedures.
Correction Commissioner George Little said the state is now ready to resume executions when the reprieve expires Wednesday. The three-chemical method of lethal injections "has been found to be humane when properly administered," Little wrote in a letter to Bredesen. "We have significantly improved the documentation and procedures to support the three-chemical protocol."
Bredesen, a Democrat, welcomed the changes made by the Correction Department and vetted by the attorney general.
"As this completes the work that I asked the commissioner to undertake, the moratorium on executions will expire on schedule on May 2," he said.
Bredesen's order postponed four scheduled executions, but it didn't delay the one set for May 9 for Philip Workman, who was convicted of killing a Memphis officer during holdup.
In announcing the reprieve, Bredesen pointed to a number of problems with the state's guidelines for putting people to death, such as the procedures not detailing standard dosage amounts for the three chemicals used during a lethal injection.
An Associated Press review found that Tennessee's most recent procedure manual for executing prisoners was a jumble of conflicting instructions that mixed lethal injection instructions with those for the old electric chair.
Today's Memphis Commercial Appeal has, "Governor OK with new lethal injection protocol."
The governor said he was concerned about how executions were being carried out. He described the earlier rules as "inadequate" and said they "opened up the possibility of us botching something that should not be botched."
The state on Monday released its revised execution guidelines, which still include the injection of a lethal three-drug cocktail that opponents have called needlessly cruel.
The three-chemical method of lethal injections "has been found to be humane when properly administered," Correction Commissioner George Little wrote in a letter to Bredesen on Monday. "We have significantly improved the documentation and procedures to support the three-chemical protocol."
The governor, in calling for the moratorium, pointed to a number of problems with the state's execution guidelines, such as the procedures not detailing standard dosage amounts for the three chemicals used during a lethal injection.
An Associated Press review found that Tennessee's most recent execution procedure manual was a jumble of conflicting instructions that mixed lethal injection instructions with those for the old electric chair.
Bredesen called the old set of protocols "ridiculous."
The Nashville Tennessean has, "Despite new rules, killer expects he will die in pain." Philip Workman is scheduled to be executed by Tennessee on May 9.
His execution date comes a week after the state lifted a three-month moratorium on executions to allow prison officials to develop new procedures for executions by injection and the electric chair.
Workman, who had already selected lethal injection, would become the first prisoner executed under the new protocol.
Comments