Oklahoma carried out its fourth execution of 2012, yesterday; the state's 100th post-Furman executions since 1990. Oklahoma trails only Texas and Virginia in the number of executions since the death penalty was reintroduced in America in 1977.
The AP reports on the execution of Michael Hooper, "Okla. man executed for killing ex-girlfriend, kids," It's by Tim Talley.
Hooper had sued the state last month in an effort to halt his execution, claiming that Oklahoma's three-drug lethal injection protocol was unconstitutional. The lawsuit sought to force the state to have an extra dose of pentobarbital, a sedative, on hand during his execution.
Pentobarbital is the first drug administered during lethal injections in Oklahoma and is used to render a condemned inmate unconscious. It's followed by vecuronium bromide, which stops the inmate's breathing, then potassium chloride to stop the heart.
Hooper's attorney, Jim Drummond, had argued that if the sedative were ineffective, the remaining drugs could cause great pain in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit also noted that other states have adopted a one-drug process using a fast-acting barbiturate that supporters say causes no pain.
But his request to stall the execution was rejected by a federal judge, then upheld by a federal appeals court. And the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hooper's request without elaboration just hours before his execution.
It was the 27th execution this year in an American death penalty state. To date, a total of 1,304 post-Furman executions since 1977.
Earlier coverage of Michael Hooper's lethal injection challenge begins at the link. Related posts are in the execution index.
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