{"id":26084,"date":"2007-09-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-09-26T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2007\/09\/26\/lethal-injection-goes-on-trial-but-goes-on\/"},"modified":"2024-04-13T23:51:39","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T04:51:39","slug":"lethal-injection-goes-on-trial-but-goes-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2007\/09\/26\/lethal-injection-goes-on-trial-but-goes-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Lethal Injection Goes on Trial, But Goes On"},"content":{"rendered":"

by John Gramlich and Daniel C. Vock, Stateline.org Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n

\n
\"Figure\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n

Nine minutes after a lethal dose of drugs was shot into his arms, Texas murderer Michael Richard last night (Sept. 25) became the 929th death-row inmate in the United States to be executed by lethal injection since capital punishment was reinstated in 1977.<\/p>\n\n

The three-drug mixture used to stop Richard’s breathing and then his heart is the same chemical cocktail the U.S. Supreme Court – just hours before – agreed to scrutinize in a case that challenges the way 37 states put inmates to death.<\/p>\n\n

The case was brought by two Kentucky prisoners, who argue<\/a> that the state’s drug regimen exposes inmates to illegal cruel and unusual punishment. The appeal doesn’t seek to throw out lethal injection as a form of capital punishment but seeks changes in how it’s administered and reviewed in the courts.<\/p>\n\n

By agreeing to hear arguments, the high court raised hopes among death-penalty opponents that an immediate, nationwide moratorium on use of lethal injections would result – at least until the justices issue an opinion in the case, Baze v. Rees<\/a>, sometime next year.<\/p>\n\n

But those hopes were dealt a serious blow when the full court rejected a series of last-minute appeals by lawyers for Richard, who was pronounced dead in the Texas death chamber in Huntsville at 8:23 p.m. local time, according to the state Department of Criminal Justice.<\/p>\n\n

Challenges to lethal injection procedures and the use of doctors in executions already have put lethal injection on hold in 11 states: Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Tennessee. The high court’s refusal to issue a stay of execution for Richard signaled that executions are able to continue elsewhere, even as lawyers for death-row inmates rush to file new appeals pleading for a delay until the justices’ decision.<\/p>\n\n

Individual states, however, could put executions by lethal injection on hold while the court deliberates, death penalty experts said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on a case brought by two Kentucky prisoners, who argue that the state’s lethal injection drug regimen exposes inmates to illegal cruel and unusual punishment. But \u2013 to the disappointment of death-penalty opponents \u2013 the use of lethal injection continues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sub_headline":"","sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","relatedPosts":[],"reportMaterials":[],"multiSectionReport":[],"package_parts__enabled":false,"package_parts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"bylines":[2134],"datasets":[],"level_of_effort":[],"primary_audience":[],"information_type":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[458],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[],"workflow-status":[],"collection":[],"class_list":["post-26084","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","bylines-tom-rosentiel","formats-report","regions-countries-united-states"],"label":"Report","post_parent":0,"word_count":328,"canonical_url":"http:\/\/stateline.org\/live\/","art_direction":false,"_embeds":[],"prc_checklist":{"prc-image-alt-text":{"status":"complete","message":"No image blocks in content.","data":null},"prc-about-this-research":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add an \"About this research\" details block.","data":null},"prc-paragraph-count":{"status":"complete","message":"Found 8 paragraphs.","data":{"count":8}},"prc-internal-link":{"status":"incomplete","message":"Add at least one internal link.","data":{"count":0}}},"watchChildPosts":false,"watchers":[],"table_of_contents":[],"report_materials":[],"report_pagination":{"current_post":null,"next_post":null,"previous_post":null,"pagination_items":[]},"parent_info":{"parent_title":"Lethal Injection Goes on Trial, But Goes On","parent_id":26084},"materialsOrdered":[],"chaptersOrdered":[],"partsOrdered":[],"partsEnabled":false,"datacite_doi":"","prc_seo_data":{"title":"Lethal Injection Goes on Trial, But Goes On","description":"The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments on a case brought by two Kentucky prisoners, who argue that the state's lethal injection drug regimen exposes inmates to illegal cruel and unusual punishment. 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