Judge rules Oklahoma’s lethal injection method is constitutional following a legal challenge from dozens of death row prisoners
2 years, 6 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 impermissible pain and suffering,” according to the ruling. In a judgment filed Monday, Judge Stephen Friot of the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma ruled the prisoners’ attorneys fell “well short of clearing the bar set by the Supreme Court” for lethal injection challenges. O’Connor had applauded Friot’s decision, saying, “The State has proven that the drugs and method of execution satisfy the United States and Oklahoma constitutions.” “Midazolam, as the State has repeatedly shown, ‘can be relied upon … to render the inmate insensate to pain,’ ” O’Connor said, adding he intends to seek execution dates from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for inmates awaiting execution.

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History of this topic

Utah scraps untested lethal drug combination for man’s August execution
5 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 …

Federal Court Says Alabama Can Carry Out First Nitrogen Gas Execution
10 months, 4 weeks ago

Federal Court Says Alabama Can Carry Out First Nitrogen Gas Execution

Huff Post  

LOADING ERROR LOADING MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, refusing to block what would be the nation’s first execution by a new method since 1982. “I remain confident that the Supreme Court will come down on the side of justice, and that Smith’s execution …

Alabama calls nitrogen execution method painless and humane, but critics are raising doubts
11 months ago

Alabama calls nitrogen execution method painless and humane, but critics are raising doubts

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama, unless stopped by the courts, intends to strap Kenneth Eugene Smith to a gurney Thursday and use a gas mask to replace breathable air with nitrogen, depriving him of oxygen, in the nation’s first execution attempt with the method. The Alabama attorney general’s office told federal appeals court judges last week that nitrogen hypoxia is “the …

Alabama inmate asks federal appeals court to block first-ever execution by nitrogen gas
11 months ago

Alabama inmate asks federal appeals court to block first-ever execution by nitrogen gas

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — An attorney for an Alabama inmate set to be the nation’s first person ever put to death by nitrogen gas asked a federal appeals court Friday to block the upcoming execution using the “untested methods.” Kenneth Smith, 58, is scheduled to be executed Thursday, when a respirator-type mask will be put on his face to replace his …

Alabama court says state can make second attempt to execute inmate whose lethal injection failed
11 months, 1 week ago

Alabama court says state can make second attempt to execute inmate whose lethal injection failed

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Supreme Court on Friday rejected the appeal of a death row inmate who is scheduled to be the first person put to death with nitrogen gas and had argued that he shouldn’t face execution after a previous attempt at a lethal injection failed. Justices without dissent rejected arguments that a second attempt to execute Kenneth …

Federal judge says Alabama can conduct nation’s 1st execution with nitrogen gas; appeal planned
11 months, 1 week ago

Federal judge says Alabama can conduct nation’s 1st execution with nitrogen gas; appeal planned

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama will be allowed to put an inmate to death with nitrogen gas later this month, a federal judge ruled Wednesday, clearing the way for what would be the nation’s first execution using a new method the inmate’s lawyers criticize as cruel and experimental. Smith’s attorneys have said Alabama is trying to make Smith the “test subject” …

US Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen hypoxia
1 year, 7 months ago

US Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen hypoxia

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with an Alabama death row inmate, who had his lethal injection called off at the last minute in November, and argues he should be put to death by nitrogen hypoxia when he is ultimately executed. The state argued the decision disregarded Supreme Court precedent that an inmate challenging an execution …

Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen gas
1 year, 7 months ago

Supreme Court sides with Alabama inmate who seeks to die by nitrogen gas

CNN  

CNN — The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a death row inmate in Alabama – whose scheduled execution by lethal injection was called off at the last minute by the state – who seeks to die by nitrogen gas when he is ultimately executed. Alabama had asked the high court to intervene – arguing that a lower court that …

Oklahoma appeals court agrees to slow pace of executions
1 year, 10 months ago

Oklahoma appeals court agrees to slow pace of executions

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s Court of Criminal Appeals on Tuesday agreed to slow the pace of the state’s upcoming executions at the request of the new attorney general, spacing them at least 60 days apart. The court issued an order setting execution dates for the next seven death row inmates scheduled to die by lethal injection, beginning with Richard Glossip …

Inmates allege Texas plans to use unsafe execution drugs
1 year, 11 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 …

Oklahoma sues federal prisons for inmate it wants to execute
2 years, 1 month ago

Oklahoma sues federal prisons for inmate it wants to execute

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma is suing the Federal Bureau of Prisons for custody of a state death row inmate whom the bureau is refusing to hand over, with the state saying the man’s scheduled execution cannot be carried out in December if he’s not returned soon. A federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday by state Attorney General John O’Connor urging that …

Judge dismisses lawsuit over upcoming lethal injection
2 years, 2 months ago

Judge dismisses lawsuit over upcoming lethal injection

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala — A federal judge dismissed an inmate’s claim seeking to block his upcoming execution in Alabama because of reported problems at a recent lethal injection. But U.S. District Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr. also warned Alabama’s prison commissioner to strictly follow established protocol when officials attempt to put Smith to death next month. Smith’s attorneys pointed to a …

State opposes lawsuit to block execution of Alabama inmate
2 years, 3 months ago

State opposes lawsuit to block execution of Alabama inmate

Associated Press  

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The state asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an Alabama inmate who is trying to halt his lethal injection later this month by arguing officials lost paperwork in which he selected an alternate execution method. The lawsuit by Alan Eugene Miller, who was convicted of killing three men in a workplace shooting in …

Oklahoma, with a history of botched lethal injections, prepares to start executing a man a month
2 years, 4 months ago

Oklahoma, with a history of botched lethal injections, prepares to start executing a man a month

CNN  

CNN — Oklahoma will soon begin executing death row inmates at a pace of about one man per month, with plans to put to death 25 prisoners over the next two years despite cries by critics and experts who point not only to outstanding questions of the mental fitness or possible innocence of some but also the state’s recent history …

Oklahoma official seeks execution dates for 25 inmates
2 years, 6 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, 6 months ago

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

CNN  

CNN — Oklahoma’s use of a three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday following a lawsuit from nearly 30 people on death row challenging the protocol. The suit, brought on behalf of 28 death row prisoners, named officials with multiple Oklahoma corrections agencies and claimed the state’s lethal injection method violates the Eighth Amendment because it …

Federal judge OKs Oklahoma’s lethal injection method
2 years, 6 months ago

Federal judge OKs Oklahoma’s lethal injection method

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma on Monday ruled the state’s three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional, paving the way for the state to request execution dates for more than two dozen death row inmates who were plaintiffs in the case. Judge Stephen Friot’s ruling followed a six-day federal trial earlier this year in which attorneys for 28 …

A federal judge rules Oklahoma's lethal injection method is constitutional
2 years, 6 months ago

A federal judge rules Oklahoma's lethal injection method is constitutional

NPR  

A federal judge rules Oklahoma's lethal injection method is constitutional Enlarge this image toggle caption Sue Ogrocki/AP Sue Ogrocki/AP A federal judge in Oklahoma on Monday ruled the state's three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional, paving the way for the state to request execution dates for more than two dozen death row inmates who were plaintiffs in the case. Judge …

Tennessee pauses executions till year’s end to review lethal injection procedures
2 years, 7 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 …

Oklahoma attorneys say execution method is constitutional
2 years, 9 months 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 …

Federal judge opens hearing on Oklahoma’s lethal injection
2 years, 9 months ago

Federal judge opens hearing on Oklahoma’s lethal injection

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma’s push to resume executions, which includes four death row prisoners put to death since October, faced the scrutiny of a federal judge in Oklahoma City on Monday in a case brought by more than two dozen death row inmates who are challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols. On Monday, the plaintiffs called Dr. Craig Stephens, an Oklahoma …

Oklahoma Executes Man Days Before A Trial On Whether Its Lethal Injection Method Is Legal
2 years, 10 months ago

Oklahoma Executes Man Days Before A Trial On Whether Its Lethal Injection Method Is Legal

Huff Post  

The state of Oklahoma executed Gilbert Postelle, 35, on Thursday. Gilbert Postelle's clemency application The state of Oklahoma on Thursday executed Gilbert Postelle, 35, a man with an IQ that approaches an intellectual disability who suffered from neglect and drug addiction as a child. Postelle is the fourth person killed by the state in recent months amid a lawsuit over …

Oklahoma death row inmate who requested firing squad executed by lethal injection
2 years, 10 months ago

Oklahoma death row inmate who requested firing squad executed by lethal injection

CNN  

CNN — An Oklahoma death row inmate who had requested execution by firing squad was executed by lethal injection on Thursday, according to the state Department of Corrections. Grant and another death row inmate, Gilbert Postelle, had asked a federal judge to intervene and allow their executions by firing squad rather than lethal injection. Grant was sentenced to death for …

Appeals court paves the way for 2 more Oklahoma executions
2 years, 10 months ago

Appeals court paves the way for 2 more Oklahoma executions

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal appeals court rejected a request from two Oklahoma death row inmates to temporarily halt their upcoming lethal injections. The two have argued that the state’s current three-drug lethal injection protocol that uses midazolam as the first drug will expose them to a constitutionally unacceptable risk of severe pain. The judge also determined that Grant and …

Oklahoma death row inmates seek firing squad as alternative
2 years, 11 months ago

Oklahoma death row inmates seek firing squad as alternative

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Two Oklahoma death row inmates facing executions in the coming months offered firing squad as a less problematic alternative to the state’s three-drug lethal injection, one of their attorneys told a federal judge on Monday. The two inmates — Donald Grant and Gilbert Postelle — want U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot to grant them a temporary injunction …

Federal judge grants stay of execution to Oklahoma inmate
2 years, 11 months ago

Federal judge grants stay of execution to Oklahoma inmate

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma has granted a stay of execution for a death row inmate who was scheduled to receive a lethal injection in March. The order reinstates Coddington as a plaintiff in a case with other death row inmates who are challenging Oklahoma’s three-drug lethal injection protocol. Firing squad is one of several authorized execution …

Judge denies Oklahoma death row inmate’s request for stay
3 years, 1 month ago

Judge denies Oklahoma death row inmate’s request for stay

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge on Tuesday denied a death row inmate’s request for a stay of execution, paving the way for him to receive a lethal injection next month. Bigler Stouffer II, 79, and his attorneys argued that the state’s current three-drug lethal injection protocol poses the risk of subjecting him to unconstitutional pain and suffering. Stouffer also …

US judge in Vegas begins hearings on Nevada execution plan
3 years, 1 month ago

US judge in Vegas begins hearings on Nevada execution plan

Associated Press  

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Las Vegas began a series of hearings Tuesday about the constitutionality of the never-before-tried method and combination of drugs that prison officials want to use for Nevada’s first lethal injection in more than 15 years. U.S. District Judge Richard Boulware II characterized the testimony he is receiving from experts called this week by …

John Grant: Oklahoma executes first man in six years
3 years, 1 month ago

John Grant: Oklahoma executes first man in six 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. “Today, the Department of Corrections carried out the …

Oklahoma executes inmate who dies vomiting and convulsing
3 years, 1 month ago

Oklahoma executes inmate who dies vomiting and convulsing

Associated Press  

McALESTER, Okla. — Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods, John Marion Grant, 60, who was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber, began convulsing and vomiting …

Timeline of events involving capital punishment in Oklahoma
3 years, 1 month ago

Timeline of events involving capital punishment in Oklahoma

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma conducted 112 executions from 1976 to October 2015, when the state imposed a moratorium following three consecutive flawed executions or attempted executions. The U.S. Supreme Court says later it will consider whether Oklahoma can use midazolam during executions, but it doesn’t disrupt Warner’s rescheduled execution. — June 29, 2015: A divided U.S. Supreme Court upholds Oklahoma’s …

Oklahoma set to resume lethal injections after 6-year pause
3 years, 1 month ago

Oklahoma set to resume lethal injections after 6-year pause

Al Jazeera  

A 60-year-old Oklahoma man who stabbed a prison cafeteria worker to death in 1998 is scheduled to receive a lethal injection on Thursday in the state’s first attempt to administer the death penalty since a series of flawed executions more than six years ago. The state moved forward with John Marion Grant’s lethal injection after the US Supreme Court, in …

John Grant: Oklahoma puts first inmate to death since 2015, but witness reports he convulsed and vomited during execution
3 years, 1 month ago

John Grant: Oklahoma puts first inmate to death since 2015, but witness reports he convulsed and vomited during execution

CNN  

CNN — An Oklahoma death row inmate who was executed Thursday convulsed and vomited shortly after receiving the first drug, a witness said, in the state’s first execution since it postponed lethal injections years ago for a review. The first drug used in John Grant’s execution was midazolam, a sedative that some states introduced to execution procedures in recent years …

Federal appeals court temporarily halts Oklahoma executions
3 years, 1 month 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’ …

Judge says Oklahoma can proceed with 5 lethal injections
3 years, 1 month ago

Judge says Oklahoma can proceed with 5 lethal injections

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled Monday the state can move forward with scheduled lethal injections for five death row inmates, including Julius Jones, whose case has drawn international attention and who is scheduled to die on Nov. 28. Judge Stephen Friot denied a motion for a preliminary injunction sought by the five inmates, paving the way …

Federal judge says Oklahoma death penalty suit can proceed
3 years, 4 months ago

Federal judge says Oklahoma death penalty suit can proceed

Associated Press  

OKLAHOMA CITY — A federal judge in Oklahoma City ruled Wednesday a lawsuit challenging the state’s lethal injection protocols can proceed to trial, making it likely Oklahoma’s de facto moratorium on executions will extend into a seventh year. U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot agreed in his order to consider at trial whether Oklahoma’s current three-drug protocol risks subjecting inmates to …

Analysis: Mississippi reveals it has lethal injection drugs
3 years, 4 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 …

SC delays execution, citing lack of lethal injection drugs
4 years ago

SC delays execution, citing lack of lethal injection drugs

Associated Press  

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The South Carolina Supreme Court on Monday stayed the execution of a death row prisoner after corrections officials said they couldn’t obtain the necessary lethal injection drugs in time. An attorney for the state Department of Corrections wrote in a letter to the South Carolina Supreme Court last week that the agency cannot carry out the execution …

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