Executions in Texas Have Temporarily Ceased

Yesterday, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals - the state's highest criminal court - decided to stay the lethal injection of Hilberto Chi, a 28-year-old Honduran man convicted of killing a men's store manager in Arlington back in 2001. This ruling comes one week after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether a specified form of lethal injection constituted the infliction of "cruel and unusual punishment," a practice prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

Last Thursday, the country's highest court intervened in a lethal injection execution here in Texas and ordered that the procedure be halted pending further Supreme Court review. Many states reacted to this move by postponing their scheduled executions until the Supreme Court could give further advisement on this important issue. At the time, Texas officials stated that they would continue to charge ahead with their execution schedule, Eighth Amendment be damned.

Only days later, the Texas Criminal Justice System has now changed its tune, and all executions for the next few months are being postponed until this issue can be resolved. The burden has now fallen to the State of Texas to explain how the form of lethal injection used by the state represents a constitutional method of criminal punishment. The state has 30 days to file its response in this matter. Essentially at issue here is whether the exact chemical mixture used in Texas (and in other states as well) for executions causes the condemned inmate an unconstitutional amount of pain and suffering before his or her heart stops beating.

Photo of lethal injection gurney in Huntsville, Texas courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica.

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By s in News on October 3, 2007 2:18 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

guest

Like being forced to die isn't itself cruel and unusual. Feh. The hypocrisy of the death penalty is my primary reason for opposing it.

guest

what's a constitutional amount of pain? splinter? frying pan to the head? knife blade under the fingernail?

tim

While I'm all for abolishing the death penalty this seems like an ass-backwards way of doing it.

Benj

Look at that room! What is that, teal? How horrific.

"C'mon guys. I know I gotta die, but does this hafta be the last color I see?"

I say, cruel *and* unusual. Add that they've coordinated the color of what looks like a STEPPING STOOL to the death-gurney, and I think they're working on a serious crime against humanity.