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Georgia Execution Ends Nationwide Moratorium

The first execution in the U.S. in more than seven months was carried out in Georgia last night, less than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of lethal injection.

Convicted killer William Earl Lynd was executed by lethal injection at a prison facility in Jackson, Georgia, after appeals to the Georgia Supreme Court and U.S. Supreme Court were refused. The execution was the first since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down a highly anticipated decision on April 16, ruling that Kentucky?s lethal injection protocol -- involving the administration of three drugs -- does not violate Eighth Amendment protections against cruel and unusual punishment. The Washington Post reports that a "de facto moratorium" on executions had been in place since last September (when the high court decided to assess the constitutionality of lethal injection) but now more states are expected to lift their capital punishment moratoriums -- with Texas setting dates for six executions this summer, and Virginia scheduling three.

• Execution is First Since Ruling (Washington Post)
• Lynd is First Person in U.S. Executed Since Moratorium (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
• Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection (FindLaw's Common Law 4/16/08)
• Capital Punishment and the Death Penalty (FindLaw)
• U.S. Constitution: Eighth Amendment (FindLaw)

Full post as published by FindLaw's Common Law on May 07, 2008 (boomark / email).