AP has "Court to Consider Lethal Injection."
The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to consider the constitutionality of lethal injections in a case that could affect the way inmates are executed around the country.
The high court will hear a challenge from two inmates on death row in Kentucky - Ralph Baze and Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr. - who sued Kentucky in 2004, claiming lethal injection amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
Baze has been scheduled for execution Tuesday night, but the Kentucky Supreme Court halted the proceedings earlier this month.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously made it easier for death row inmates to contest the lethal injections used across the country for executions.
But until Tuesday, the justices had never agreed to consider the fundamental question of whether the mix of drugs used in Kentucky and elsewhere violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
All 37 states that perform lethal injections use the same three-drug cocktail, but at least 10 states suspended its use after opponents alleged it was ineffective and cruel, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The Washington Post has, "Supreme Court to Consider Lethal Injection."
Kentucky is one of 36 states -- only New Jersey uses a different method--that employs a combination of three chemicals to execute an inmate by lethal injection. Experts on criminal sentencing predicted today's action would effectively halt executions performed in that manner until the court rules on the issue sometime next year.
The court in earlier decisions had ruled that inmates could challenge lethal injection procedures in federal court, and the petition asking the justices to accept the case said about half of inmates have done so.
The petition said the result has been a range of decisions that require the high court's scrutiny. "No person should face the risk of excruciating pain and suffering merely because of the state or federal jurisdiction in which the person is condemned . . . this court can easily provide guidance and resolve the confusion over the applicable legal standard."
Bloomberg has, "Lethal Injection Challenge Gets Top U.S. Court Review."
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the legality of the lethal injection method used by dozens of states, saying it will hear arguments from two Kentucky death- row inmates who say they face unnecessary suffering.
The inmates, Ralph Baze and Thomas C. Bowling, say the state's execution procedure violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment. They pointed to botched executions in Ohio and Florida that took as long as two hours to complete.
``These executions have cast a pall over lethal injections in this country and have lessened the public's confidence in how executions are being carried out,'' they argued in their appeal, filed in Washington.
All but one of the 38 death-penalty states use lethal injection for executions, and almost all of those use the same three chemicals that Kentucky uses. The case is among 17 granted review by the court today ahead of the formal opening of its term Oct. 1.
Today's earlier post is here.
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