Judge says lethal injection doesn’t violate rights of man on death row, avoids firing squad question

ATLANTA — A federal judge has ruled against a man on Georgia’s death row who argued that lethal injection could cause him excruciating pain and suggested a firing squad as an alternative. U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled Thursday that Nance had failed to prove that and, as a result, Boulee didn’t weigh in on whether a firing squad is a feasible alternative. Justice Elena Kagan wrote in the majority opinion that in challenging Georgia’s execution method he was “not confined to proposing a method authorized by the executing State’s law.” There is no reason to believe that amending state law to allow executions by firing squad would be a “substantial impediment” to carrying out the death sentence, she wrote. But because Nance failed to show that his medical conditions would cause him to suffer severe pain during a lethal injection, the judge said he had “no need to address” the firing squad argument.