A Penguin in the Orchard

No Humane Way

This is a bit surprising from a conservative court.

Justices Open Door to Lethal Injection Challenges [NY Times, free subscription req]

WASHINGTON, June 12 — The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that condemned prisoners can challenge the humaneness of the lethal blend of chemicals that are to be used to execute them.

I’ve never been convinced that execution in any form is acceptable in a civilized society. I hope we’re on the backside of retributivist control of the courts, though that’s probably not yet the case. The Supreme Court ruling went on to leave the door open for other methods of lethal injection. In effect, they’ve only cracked the door open a bit for challenges to the current procedure now in use.
[tags]execution, lethal injection, death penalty[/tags]