DEATH ROW--death penalty in America

[HairOfTheDog]

Then these assholes should take a moment and read: Thomas Jefferson's, A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments.

Here's a hint . . . hanging wasn't considered "cruel".

Neither was poison.

There's no valid argument that any doctor-overseen lethal injection could be considered a cruel unconstitutional manner to facilitate death, IMO. Some judges beg to differ.

Opponents of the death penalty are milking changes in the lethal drug combos for all they can and continue making headway in some cases.



Tommy Lynn Sells ^ -- confessed serial killer and all-around remorseless asshole -- is the latest to benefit from the controversy. He was supposed to be put to death today in Texas, but has succeeded in getting a temporary injunction.

U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmoreon Wednesday stopped the scheduled execution, saying justice department officials must disclose information to the inmate's lawyers about the supplier of a new batch of drugs that would be used to kill him.

State officials have insisted the identity of the supplier must be kept secret to protect the company from threats of violence.

Defense attorneys insist the name is needed to verify the quality of the drug and keep the inmate from unconstitutional pain.

Since obtaining a new supply of the drug pentobarbital two weeks ago, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice had cited unspecified security concerns in refusing to disclose the source and other details about the sedative it plans to use to put inmates to death.

"As a result, the state's secrecy regarding the product to be used for lethal injection has precluded (the inmates and their attorneys) from evaluating or challenging the constitutionality of the method of execution," Gilmore wrote in her a five-page opinion.

Sells, 49, was convicted of killing a 13-year-old South Texas girl asleep at her home in 1999. Kaylene Harris was stabbed nearly two dozen times and had her throat slashed. A 10-year-old friend, Krystal Surles, also was attacked but survived, and testified against Sells at trial. Sells confessed to the slaying and has been tied to more than 20 others around the nation. He has claimed responsibility for as many as 70 murders.

Ref:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/judge-halts-...e-secrecy/