Lawyers for inmates rip revised execution procedures
8 years, 1 month ago

Lawyers for inmates rip revised execution procedures

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Lawyers for death-row inmates say recent changes to Arizona’s procedures for carrying out the death penalty didn’t do enough to confront abuses in the state’s power to decide the methods and amounts of drugs used in executions. Attorneys for the condemned inmates said in court papers filed Friday that the state’s corrections director, under the revisions, still has complete freedom to deviate from the written procedures. The inmates’ lawyers criticized a portion of the revised procedures that said the corrections director is free to change the quantities or types of drugs used in executions, even if he makes that decision on the day of the execution. Attorneys for the state said in court papers that no court has ever found Arizona’s execution procedures or how they are carried out to be unconstitutional.

Drugs Lawyers State Procedures Inmates Rip Penalty Execution  drugs  director  corrections  revised  inmates  rip  revisions  state  procedures  penalty  execution  lawyers

History of this topic

An Arizona prisoner whose execution is coming up isn’t asking for a reprieve
2 weeks, 2 days ago

An Arizona prisoner whose execution is coming up isn’t asking for a reprieve

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A prisoner scheduled to be executed next week in what would be Arizona’s first use of the death penalty in over two years will not ask for a reprieve from his death sentence. The Arizona Supreme Court issued a death warrant for Gunches nearly two years ago, but the sentence wasn’t carried out because the state’s Democratic attorney …

Arizona GOP lawmakers advance firing squad execution proposal
1 month, 1 week ago

Arizona GOP lawmakers advance firing squad execution proposal

Raw Story  

by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, Arizona Mirror February 18, 2025 A Republican proposal that would amend the Arizona Constitution to execute prisoners by firing squad instead of lethal injection passed its first hurdle Tuesday. Duncan concluded that, although lethal injection appears to be painless and humane, the reality is that it is “fundamentally unreliable, unworkable and unacceptably prone to errors.” Duncan also …

Arizona to execute first death row inmate in two years
1 month, 2 weeks ago

Arizona to execute first death row inmate in two years

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Arizona will next month …

An Arizona prisoner is asking to be executed sooner than the state wants
2 months, 3 weeks ago

An Arizona prisoner is asking to be executed sooner than the state wants

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — An Arizona death row prisoner asked the state’s highest court to skip legal formalities and schedule his execution earlier than authorities were aiming for, pushing as he had in the past to have his death sentence carried out. In a handwritten court filing this week, Gunches asked the state Supreme Court to schedule his execution for mid-February for …

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted
2 months, 3 weeks ago

Tennessee has a new execution method, 2.5 years after last scheduled execution abruptly halted

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — More than 2 years after Tennessee abruptly halted the execution of inmate Oscar Smith — admitting that correction officials were not following their own execution protocols — the state has announced a new method that could allow it to resume executions halted since May 2022. The Tennessee Department of Correction announced in a brief statement Friday it …

Arizona executions to resume, breaking 2-year pause during review of state death penalty procedures
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Arizona executions to resume, breaking 2-year pause during review of state death penalty procedures

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Executions will resume in Arizona following a two-year pause, the state’s top prosecutor says. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes said in a statement sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday that she will soon seek an execution warrant for Aaron Brian Gunches, who is on death row after being convicted of killing his girlfriend’s ex-husband. Mayes said her …

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution
8 months ago

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution

Associated Press  

Utah officials said Saturday that they are scrapping plans to use an untested lethal drug combination in next month’s planned execution of a man in a 1998 murder case. Defense attorneys for Taberon Dave Honie, 49, had sued in state court to stop the use of the drug combination, saying it could cause the defendant “excruciating suffering.” The execution scheduled …

Senate Democrats Urge DOJ To Rescind Trump-Era Legal Memo On Executions
10 months ago

Senate Democrats Urge DOJ To Rescind Trump-Era Legal Memo On Executions

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING A group of nine Senate Democrats urged the Department of Justice to rescind a Trump-era legal opinion stating that the Food and Drug Administration cannot regulate drugs intended for use in executions. These drug secrecy laws “shield lethal drug supply chains from oversight by the FDA, DEA, and state boards of pharmacy, creating a ‘regulatory vacuum endangers …

South Carolina has lethal injection drug but justices want more info before restarting executions
1 year, 4 months ago

South Carolina has lethal injection drug but justices want more info before restarting executions

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina’s highest court apparently is not ready to allow the state to restart executions after more than 12 years until they hear more arguments about newly obtained lethal injection drugs as well as a recently added firing squad and the old electric chair. South Carolina has not carried out an execution since 2011 after the state’s …

Lawsuit protesting Arizona governor’s refusal to execute prisoner dismissed
1 year, 9 months ago

Lawsuit protesting Arizona governor’s refusal to execute prisoner dismissed

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A lawsuit that alleged Arizona Gov. The lawsuit dismissed Thursday had tried unsuccessfully to force the Democratic governor, who had ordered a review of Arizona’s death penalty protocols because of the state’s history of mismanaged executions, to carry out the execution of Aaron Gunches for his murder conviction in the 2002 killing of Ted Price. Democratic Attorney General …

Arizona governor won’t proceed with execution set by court
2 years ago

Arizona governor won’t proceed with execution set by court

LA Times  

Katie Hobbs has vowed not to allow an execution that the state Supreme Court scheduled over the objections of the state’s new attorney general. The Democratic governor’s promise Friday not to execute Aaron Gunches on April 6 for a 2002 killing came a day after Arizona’s high court said it must grant an execution warrant if certain appellate proceedings have …

Retired judge picked to review Arizona’s execution process
2 years, 1 month ago

Retired judge picked to review Arizona’s execution process

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A retired federal magistrate judge was appointed to review the execution process in Arizona as part of an examination ordered by Gov. Katie Hobbs of procurement of lethal injection drugs and other death penalty protocols due to the state’s history of mismanaging executions. While Hobbs didn’t declare a moratorium on the death penalty, Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes …

Top Tennessee prison officials fired after report finds ‘shocking’ issues with death penalty drugs
2 years, 2 months ago

Top Tennessee prison officials fired after report finds ‘shocking’ issues with death penalty drugs

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Two top Tennessee corrections …

Arizona executions on hold amid review ordered by governor
2 years, 2 months ago

Arizona executions on hold amid review ordered by governor

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona’s attorney general has put a hold on executions in the state until the completion of a review of death penalty protocols ordered by the new governor due to the state’s history of mismanaging executions. Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s first Democratic governor since 2009, came as the state’s new Democratic attorney general, Kris Mayes, withdrew her Republican predecessor’s request …

Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs
2 years, 2 months ago

Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs

Associated Press  

HOUSTON — Texas plans to use expired and unsafe drugs to carry out executions early this year in violation of state law, three death row inmates allege in a lawsuit. Like other states in recent years, Texas has turned to compounding pharmacies to obtain pentobarbital, which it uses for executions, after traditional drugmakers refused to sell their products to prison …

Racism, gruesome errors, and botched executions: Inside America’s four-person, 48-hour execution spree
2 years, 4 months ago

Racism, gruesome errors, and botched executions: Inside America’s four-person, 48-hour execution spree

The Independent  

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. To make matters worse, Kat Jutras of Death …

Judge keeps Arizona execution plan on track for Wednesday
2 years, 4 months ago

Judge keeps Arizona execution plan on track for Wednesday

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Plans to execute an Arizona man on Wednesday remain on track after a judge refused to postpone the lethal injection, rejecting a bid to allow fingerprint and DNA testing on evidence from two 1980s killings that led to the inmate’s death sentence. U.S. District Judge Stephen McNamee wrote in Monday’s order that the argument by Hooper’s lawyers was …

Arizona death row prisoner’s clemency bid rejected by board
2 years, 4 months ago

Arizona death row prisoner’s clemency bid rejected by board

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona’s clemency board unanimously declined on Thursday to recommend that the governor commute a man’s death sentence to life in prison, keeping the inmate’s planned execution on track for his conviction in two 1980 killings. The decision by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency marks one of the last steps before Murray Hooper’s scheduled Nov. 16 execution for …

Arizona death row prisoner's clemency bid rejected by board
2 years, 4 months ago

Arizona death row prisoner's clemency bid rejected by board

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The decision by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency …

Lawyers for Arizona inmate facing execution file new appeal
2 years, 4 months ago

Lawyers for Arizona inmate facing execution file new appeal

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Lawyers for an Arizona death row inmate scheduled to be executed on Nov. 16 have filed a new appeal. Murray Hooper’s attorneys filed another petition for post-conviction relief Monday in Maricopa County Superior Court, saying “newly discovered material facts” have been discovered in the case and the 76-year-old inmate should be entitled to a new trial. Hooper and …

Inmate’s failed testing bid keeps Arizona execution on track
2 years, 5 months ago

Inmate’s failed testing bid keeps Arizona execution on track

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — An execution planned next month for an Arizona prisoner remains on track after a judge rejected the condemned man’s request to have fingerprint and DNA tests conducted on evidence from the two 1980 killings for which he’s scheduled to be put to death. In a decision released Monday, Superior Court Judge Jennifer Green said the evidence implicating Hooper …

Court upholds Arkansas’ use of sedative in executions
2 years, 7 months ago

Court upholds Arkansas’ use of sedative in executions

Associated Press  

— A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld Arkansas’ use of the sedative midazolam in its lethal injections. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in 2020 ruled that the state’s use of midazolam in injections is constitutional and dismissed claims that less painful methods of execution are available. “With no scientific consensus and a paucity of reliable scientific evidence concerning the …

Tennessee execution pause through 2022 could last longer
2 years, 9 months ago

Tennessee execution pause through 2022 could last longer

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After Tennessee Gov. Many of the problems surfaced as part of challenges of Tennessee’s execution process by two death row inmates in federal court. Those cases are on hold until the investigation ordered by Lee concludes — but in the meantime, the state attorney general’s office acknowledged in a May 6 court filing that there may be …

Oklahoma official seeks execution dates for 25 inmates
2 years, 9 months ago

Oklahoma official seeks execution dates for 25 inmates

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s attorney general has asked the state’s highest appeals court to set execution dates for 25 death row inmates following a federal judge’s rejection of their challenge to the state’s lethal injection method. In 25 similar filings with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday, Attorney General John O’Connor wrote that the federal court’s stays of …

Judge rules Oklahoma’s lethal injection method is constitutional following a legal challenge from dozens of death row prisoners
2 years, 9 months ago

Judge rules Oklahoma’s lethal injection method is constitutional following a legal challenge from dozens of death row prisoners

CNN  

CNN — Four days after a federal court ruled against death row inmates arguing Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol is cruel and unusual, the state’s attorney general asked for more than two dozen executions to be scheduled. The lawsuit, brought on behalf of 28 death row prisoners, named officials with multiple Oklahoma corrections agencies and claimed the injection method causes “constitutionally …

Execution ends Arizona 8-year hiatus with the death penalty
2 years, 10 months ago

Execution ends Arizona 8-year hiatus with the death penalty

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Arizona’s nearly eight-year hiatus in …

Appeals court denies Arizona inmate’s bid to avoid execution
2 years, 10 months ago

Appeals court denies Arizona inmate’s bid to avoid execution

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected a request to postpone the planned execution of an Arizona prisoner in what would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in nearly eight years. The Arizona Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a state judge’s decision that rejected Dixon’s arguments, leading his attorneys to introduce similar claims …

Arizona executes first prisoner in nearly eight years after Supreme Court declines to hear case
2 years, 10 months ago

Arizona executes first prisoner in nearly eight years after Supreme Court declines to hear case

LA Times  

Clarence Dixon, who was convicted of murdering a college student in 1978, was executed Wednesday in Arizona. An Arizona man convicted of killing a college student in 1978 was put to death Wednesday after a nearly eight-year hiatus in the state’s use of the death penalty brought on by its last execution, a nearly two-hour episode that critics say was …

Judge won’t halt Arizona execution — at least for now
2 years, 10 months ago

Judge won’t halt Arizona execution — at least for now

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A federal judge on Saturday refused to halt an Arizona execution planned for Wednesday after the state provided attorneys for convicted killer Clarence Dixon with documents outlining testing done on the drug it will use, but an additional flurry of last-minute court action could still lead to a delay. Dixon’s attorneys also plan to appeal to the Arizona …

Tennessee pauses executions till year’s end to review lethal injection procedures
2 years, 10 months ago

Tennessee pauses executions till year’s end to review lethal injection procedures

LA Times  

Tennessee is pausing executions to enable an independent review of its lethal injection procedures after a testing oversight forced the state to call off the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die this month. “However, the death penalty is an extremely serious matter, and I expect the Tennessee Department of Correction to leave no question that …

Clemency bid denied for Arizona prisoner set for execution
2 years, 10 months ago

Clemency bid denied for Arizona prisoner set for execution

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona’s clemency board has unanimously declined to recommend to Gov. The decision by the Arizona Board of Executive Clemency on Thursday marks one of the last steps before Clarence Dixon’s execution in the 1978 killing of Arizona State University student Deana Bowdoin. Before his conviction in Bowdoin’s death, Dixon was serving life sentences for sexual assault and other …

Attorneys want moratorium, probe after execution halted
2 years, 10 months ago

Attorneys want moratorium, probe after execution halted

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — After an undisclosed “oversight” forced Tennessee to call off the execution of Oscar Smith an hour before he was to die last week, Smith’s attorneys on Thursday asked for a moratorium on executions and a review of the state’s execution protocols. Bill Lee issued a brief statement on April 21 at 5:42 p.m. saying that “due to …

Tennessee plans 1st COVID-19-era execution, more scheduled
2 years, 11 months ago

Tennessee plans 1st COVID-19-era execution, more scheduled

Associated Press  

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee is set to execute its first inmate Thursday since the start of the pandemic, planning a lethal injection procedure that has become less common in the state than the electric chair in recent years. The execution using the state’s preferred method puts Tennessee on a divergent path from South Carolina, which has been preparing for a …

Lawyers for prisoner say he’s mentally unfit to be executed
2 years, 11 months ago

Lawyers for prisoner say he’s mentally unfit to be executed

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Attorneys for a prisoner scheduled to become the first person to be executed in Arizona in nearly eight years are making another bid to try to stop his execution, arguing their client’s psychological problems keep him from rationally understanding why the state wants to end his life. In an order Friday, a Pinal County judge concluded defense lawyers …

Oklahoma attorneys say execution method is constitutional
3 years ago

Oklahoma attorneys say execution method is constitutional

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — The three-drug lethal injection method Oklahoma uses is constitutional and is unlikely to lead to inmates experiencing much pain before they die, Oklahoma’s solicitor general told a federal judge on Monday. Mithun Mansinghani told U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot that the four lethal injections the state has carried out since October “are definitive proof that the protocol …

Arizona seeks to resume executions after 7-year hiatus
3 years, 1 month ago

Arizona seeks to resume executions after 7-year hiatus

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Prosecutors on Thursday asked the Arizona Supreme Court to issue an execution warrant for a convicted killer that if carried out would be the state’s first use of the death penalty in seven years. Attorney General Mark Brnovich’s office filed the request for a warrant of execution against Clarence Dixon, who was convicted and sentenced to death in …

House panel demands information on federal execution drug
3 years, 3 months ago

House panel demands information on federal execution drug

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The House Oversight Committee is demanding the Justice Department provide answers about whether Biden administration officials have any plans to procure the drug used in federal executions despite an ongoing moratorium on capital punishment. Raskin and Pressley want the Justice Department to provide a briefing to the committee’s staff by Dec. 22 about the review that Garland initiated …

House panel demands information on federal execution drug
3 years, 3 months ago

House panel demands information on federal execution drug

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The House Oversight Committee is …

Federal appeals court temporarily halts Oklahoma executions
3 years, 4 months ago

Federal appeals court temporarily halts Oklahoma executions

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal appeals court granted stays of execution on Wednesday for two Oklahoma inmates who were scheduled to receive lethal injections in the coming weeks. The panel wrote, “We find nothing in the relevant case law that specifically requires a prisoner to designate a method of execution to be used in his case by ‘checking a box’ …

Analysis: Mississippi reveals it has lethal injection drugs
3 years, 7 months ago

Analysis: Mississippi reveals it has lethal injection drugs

Associated Press  

— Mississippi has not executed a death row inmate since June 2012, and no executions are currently scheduled. intended to sufficiently anesthetize the prisoner so that he is both unconscious and insensate when the executioner injects the second and third drugs.” In papers filed July 29 in federal court in Jackson, the inmates’ attorneys said they had demanded information from …

Prisoner objects to proposed change in execution briefings
3 years, 8 months ago

Prisoner objects to proposed change in execution briefings

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — A death row prisoner who could be among the first in Arizona to be executed in almost seven years is opposing a move that would reduce the amount of time he would have respond to the state’s request for his execution warrant. Prosecutors asked the Arizona Supreme Court two weeks ago to modify the briefing schedule in their …

Prisoner disputes shelf life of Arizona’s execution drug
3 years, 10 months ago

Prisoner disputes shelf life of Arizona’s execution drug

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — An Arizona death row prisoner, who would be among the state’s first executions in almost seven years, has filed documents arguing the lethal injection drug to be used would expire sooner than prosecutors maintain and that makes it impossible to carry out his execution. In a filing Wednesday, attorneys for Frank Atwood asked the Arizona Supreme Court to …

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases
4 years, 1 month ago

Executioners sanitized accounts of deaths in federal cases

Associated Press  

CHICAGO — Executioners who put 13 inmates to death in the last months of the Trump administration likened the process of dying by lethal injection to falling asleep and called gurneys “beds” and final breaths “snores.” But those tranquil accounts are at odds with reports by The Associated Press and other media witnesses of how prisoners’ stomachs rolled, shook and …

US judge rejects inmates’ lawsuit on Idaho execution plans
4 years, 4 months ago

US judge rejects inmates’ lawsuit on Idaho execution plans

Associated Press  

BOISE, Idaho — A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit from two death row inmates seeking more information about Idaho’s execution plans. U.S. District Judge David Nye ruled Tuesday that because Gerald Ross Pizzuto Jr. and Thomas Eugene Creech both have appeals pending in their criminal cases, there’s no guarantee they’ll ever face execution, meaning they don’t yet have …

AP Exclusive: New dates set to begin federal executions
4 years, 9 months ago

AP Exclusive: New dates set to begin federal executions

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department has set new dates to begin executing federal death-row inmates following a monthslong legal battle over the plan to resume the executions for the first time since 2003. Three of the men had been scheduled to be put to death when Barr announced the federal government would resume executions last year, ending an informal moratorium …

Trump gets win in executions case, but more litigation ahead
4 years, 11 months ago

Trump gets win in executions case, but more litigation ahead

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — An appeals court sided with the Trump administration Tuesday in its effort to resume executions of federal death row prisoners but sent a legal challenge by inmates back to a lower court for further review. Inmates challenged their executions and a trial court judge temporarily halted them, ruling that the federal government’s execution procedure likely violates the Federal …

Prison department updates execution secrecy rules
5 years, 3 months ago

Prison department updates execution secrecy rules

Associated Press  

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho prison officials have changed their administrative rules to ensure secrecy surrounding the source of the state’s lethal injection drugs. Like previous versions, the rule updated earlier this year forbids the Idaho Department of Correction from disclosing “under any circumstance” information that department director Josh Tewalt determines could jeopardize the department’s ability to carry out an execution. …

AP Exclusive: DOJ would take halted executions to high court
5 years, 4 months ago

AP Exclusive: DOJ would take halted executions to high court

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Attorney General William Barr told The Associated Press on Thursday that he would take the Trump administration’s bid to restart federal executions after a 16-year hiatus to the Supreme Court if necessary. The attorney general unexpectedly announced in July that the government would resume executions next month, ending an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment as the issue …

Official: Arizona to resume executions after 5-year hiatus
5 years, 8 months ago

Official: Arizona to resume executions after 5-year hiatus

Associated Press  

PHOENIX — Arizona is poised to resume executions after a five-year hiatus brought on by an execution that critics said was botched, a subsequent lawsuit challenging the way the state carries out the death penalty, and the difficulty of finding lethal injection drugs, Attorney General Mark Brnovich said. “Regardless of where they go to get the drugs for executions, we …

Arkansas faces new court fight over sedative for executions
5 years, 11 months ago

Arkansas faces new court fight over sedative for executions

Associated Press  

— A federal lawsuit filed by death row inmates has renewed a court fight over whether the sedative Arkansas uses for lethal injections causes torturous executions, two years after the state raced to put eight convicted killers to death in 11 days before a previous batch of the drug expired. Much of the trial over Arkansas’ process will focus on …

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