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Missouri Injection Protocol Upheld

By Kent Scheidegger et al.

In Baze v. Rees, Chief Justice Roberts wrote, "Justice Stevens suggests that our opinion leaves the disposition of other cases uncertain, see post, at 1, but the standard we set forth here resolves more challenges than he acknowledges. A stay of execution may not be granted on grounds such as those asserted here unless the condemned prisoner establishes that the State?s lethal injection protocol creates a demonstrated risk of severe pain. He must show that the risk is substantial when compared to the known and available alternatives. A State with a lethal injection protocol substantially similar to the protocol we uphold today would not create a risk that meets this standard." (slip opinion at p. 22) Much of the spin in the immediate aftermath of the decision claimed that Stevens was right and the decision just opened the door to a new round of challenges...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime and Consequences on July 16, 2008 (boomark / email).