NC Supreme Court Lets State Council Set Execution Standards

[struggle4progress]

By Sam Favate

The wrangling over the death penalty in North Carolina has had its share of twists and turns over the last few years, but it’s so complicated that even when the state’s supreme court rules on the matter, it remains unresolved.

The North Carolina Supreme Court has cleared the way for ten elected officials to continue setting execution protocol for death row inmates, affirming the state’s lethal injection procedures, the Raleigh News & Observer reports.

In a decision Friday, the court said the Council of State has the authority to set execution standards, ruling against death row inmates who argued the Council didn’t follow state statutes when they established new procedures in 2007. The Council of State consists of elected officials, ranging from the lieutenant governor to the attorney general to the commissioners of agriculture, insurance and labor.

The ruling isn’t likely to change the de facto moratorium on capital punishment in the state, since other legal challenges to the death penalty still exist on the state and federal level, as a spokeswoman for the North Carolina Attorney General’s office told the AP ...

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/10/10/nc-supreme-court-lets-state-council-set-execution-standards/