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News and Developments 2006: Executions

Executions on Hold in Ten States

Posted: December 27, 2006
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As 2006 draws to a close, most executions in ten states are effectively on hold as aspects of their capital punishment laws are examined.  Two states, Illinois and New Jersey, have a formal moratorium on all executions while the viability of the death penalty is considered.  In eight other states, almost all executions are being stayed as the states grapple with the lethal injection issue.  Those states are Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, and South Dakota.  In these states, individual executions have been stayed and it is li

Maryland High Court Puts Executions on Hold

Posted: December 19, 2006
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Maryland's highest court has ruled that the state's adoption of its lethal injection protocols is subject to the state's Administrative Procedures Act, and it halted all executions until the protocols are properly reviewed.  This decision may require prison officials to conduct hearings on the lethal injection procedures in a forum open to the public for comment. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruling comes just days after executions in California and Florida were halted amid concerns that lethal injections were being improperly administered in those states.

A Closer Look at the Ruling on Lethal Injections in California

Posted: December 18, 2006
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The ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel (pictured) on Friday, December 15, appears intended to spur California public officials to modify the current system of putting inmates to death.  Judge Fogel's order was not a final decision, but rather a "Memorandum of Intended Decision: Request for Response from Defendants."  The defendants in this case are the corrections officials of the state, including, ultimately, the governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Executions Put on Hold in Florida and California

Posted: December 15, 2006
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Florida's governor halted all executions in the state until a commission can investigate and report what went wrong with the lethal injection of Angel Nieves Diaz on December 13. Gov. Jeb Bush issued an executive order announcing a panel of experts to make recommendations for changes to the process and said that no death warrants will be signed until modifications are adopted.  Diaz's execution took more than twice as long as normal and required two rounds of the lethal chemicals.

DPIC RELEASES 2006 YEAR END REPORT NOTING DECLINE IN USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY

Posted: December 14, 2006
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DPIC's 12th annual Year End Report was released on December 14 and reveals a broad decline in the use of the death penalty in the U.S.

NEW RESOURCES: Bureau of Justice Statistics Releases Capital Punishment, 2005

Posted: December 08, 2006
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The Bureau of Justice Statistics has just released the 2005 version of its annual report on the death penalty in the U.S. The report notes that both the number of death sentences and the size of death row were down for 2005, and that this represents a trend over the past 5 years. The report states that there were 60 executions in 2005, all by lethal injection, and that the time between sentencing and execution was longer in 2005 than in 2004.

ARBITRARINESS: Federal Judge Deeply Troubled about Inconsistencies in Lethal Injection Rulings

Posted: December 07, 2006
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Recently in Ohio and other states, some inmates challenging the lethal injection process in federal courts have been given stays of executions, while others, similarly situated, have been denied stays and have been executed.  This inconsistent application of federal law in capital cases has raised concerns among a number of federal judges.  A stay was recently granted to Ohio inmate Jerome Henderson, but denied to Jeffrey Lundgren.  On December 6, U.S.

Stays Granted in Two Pending Executions: Issues are Lethal Injection and Mental Illness

Posted: December 05, 2006
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Stays have been granted in two of the three executions that had still been scheduled for December.  On December 1 in Ohio, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit granted a stay of execution to Jerome Henderson, whose execution had been scheduled for December 5.  Henderson was allowed to join a challenge to the state's lethal injection protocol.  The 6th Circuit denied the state's request to rehear the issue, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to lift the stay.  (Associated Press, Dec. 5, 2006).

Kentucky Court Orders State to Hold Public Hearings on Lethal Injection Process

Posted: November 30, 2006
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In a ruling that may put all executions on hold in the state of Kentucky, a Franklin County Circuit Judge held that the state must hold public hearings because it changed the way the state plans to carry out executions.  A group of death row inmates had challenged the state's lethal injection protocol in 2004, and subsequently the state altered the mixture of drugs used and the way they would be administered without going through the necessary administrative process for such a change.  Recently, the Kentucky Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection proc

Kentucky Supreme Court Upholds State's Lethal Injection Process

Posted: November 25, 2006
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The Kentucky Supreme Court rejected claims by death row inmates that the state's lethal injection process risks wanton and excruciating pain in violation of the ban on cruel and unusal punishments.  The Court upheld a 2005 lower court ruling similarly rejecting the claims of inmates Ralph Baze and Thomas C.