Supreme Court upholds use of lethal injection

Thursday, April 17, 2008  

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the use of the most common method of lethal injection.

In a 7-2 decision, the justices said the drug combination used in more than 30 states is not cruel and unusual to prisoners. But they could not agree on the legal standard to employ when judging execution practices.

The lack of agreement led Justice Clarence Thomas and Justice John Paul Stevens to predict further litigation. At least one state, however, lifted its moratorium on lethal injection after the court's ruling.

As of 2006, 39 Native American prisoners were on federal and state death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Lethal injection is used by the federal government and 36 states.

The case is Baze v. Rees, No. 07-5439.

Get the Story:
Justices Uphold Lethal Injection Procedure (The Washington Post 4/17)
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Justices Uphold Lethal Injection in Kentucky Case (The New York Times 4/17)
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Baze v. Rees:
Syllabus | Opinion [Roberts] | Concurrence [Alito] | Concurrence [Stevens] | Concurrence [Scalia] | Concurrence [Thomas] | Concurrence [Breyer] | Dissent [Ginsburg]