Tennessee latest US state to suspend death sentences

[Judi Lynn]

Tennessee latest US state to suspend death sentences
44 minutes ago

CHICAGO (AFP) - Tennessee has become the latest US state to halt executions of death sentences amid rising concerns about lethal injection procedures.

Only three states - Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia - now have executions scheduled in the coming months, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Tennessee was the fifth state to halt executions since a botched execution in Florida in December where prisoner Angel Diaz grimaced in pain and gasped for breath for 34 minutes before dying, because needles administering the lethal drugs were pushed in too far and delivered the doses into his muscles rather than his veins.

Florida's governor responded with a moratorium and courts in North Carolina, California and Ohio have also challenged the procedure in recent weeks.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070202/ts_alt_afp/usjusticeexecution;_ylt=A0WTUdeDsMNF2QUABQSs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3OTB1amhuBHNlYwNtdHM-

[ChairmanAgnostic]

1. 60 years to repeal the anti-evolution law, and 6 years to follow

Illinois on this issue

[Sequoia]

2. California...well, not so fast.

Our gimpy nazi governor wants to make it work. Kill, kill, kill...gotta support my base. Make it work.

[EFerrari]

3. Thank you, TN.

:kick:

[Selatius]

4. Trying to make the death penalty humane is an exercise in stupidity

If the goal is to kill the target, why not do what Communist China does and put a single bullet in his head?

[Botany]

5. bingo .....

Shot them or hang them ..... don't sugar coat it .... the point is to kill the person.

I am opposed to the death penalty because it costs 20 times as
much as life w/ out parole also the fact that a lot of people get
"shit" legal help in capital cases.

[fasttense]

6. Good.

You get no "do overs" with the death penalty. You have to be 100% right, 100% of the time.

[struggle4progress]

7. Proposed execution protocol may create conflict with medical board (NC)

Saturday, February 3, 2007
Proposed execution protocol may create conflict with medical board
Doctor participation in capital punishment raises ethical issues
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

RALEIGH

State leaders will consider a new execution procedure next week that requires a doctor's participation, but the proposal appears to conflict with the state medical board's recent declaration that physicians who actively take part in an execution violate medical ethics ...

Last year, a federal judge agreed to let an execution proceed only after the state assured him a physician and a registered nurse would be present to ensure the inmate did not suffer pain as he was put to death by injection ...

State law requires that a doctor be present at executions, and that is allowed by the N.C. Medical Board. But the board cautioned last month that a "physician who engages in any verbal or physical activity ... that facilitates the execution may be subject to disciplinary action." ...

http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149193003253&path=!localnews&s=1037645509099

Hard to be certain how this will play out, but I'm afraid the prison here will be killing people here again shortly ...