Death penalty stuck in quagmire

[citizen snips]

Thirty years ago, a Davidson College graduate named Bill Wiseman was the Oklahoma lawmaker who crafted legislation creating lethal injection.

Wiseman's method of execution, devised to make capital punishment more humane than the electric chair, soon spread to all but one of the 38 states with the death penalty.

But now, the procedure Wiseman created with the help of the Oklahoma medical examiner has come under increasing legal scrutiny, most of it focused on whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. Lawsuits and a botched execution in Florida have created a death-penalty standstill. In a dozen states, including North Carolina, officials are struggling to change executions and satisfy the courts.

"This is a question that is arising one lawsuit at a time in several states." said Michael D. Rushford, president of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a pro-death penalty nonprofit group based in Sacramento, Calif.

Wiseman, an Episcopal priest and university administrator, has granted several interviews about his role in the creation of lethal injection -- a part of his history that he has said he now regrets. He could not be reached last week for comment about the legal challenges blocking the death penalty across the country.

more...
http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/542166.html

[MedleyMisty]

1. Sigh

How about just not killing people?