An Oklahoma inmate took more than 40 minutes to die after receiving what was supposed to be a lethal injection. The decision to conduct the execution came after a state court lifted a stay.
James E. Coleman Jr.Professor of the practice of law, Duke University School of Lawjcoleman@law.duke.edu http://law.duke.edu/fac/colemanj/ Coleman serves as co-director of the Wrongful Convictions Clinic and director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility at Duke Law School. He teaches classes relating to criminal law, wrongful convictions and legal ethics. He chaired the American Bar Association's Death Penalty Moratorium Implementation Project from 2001 to 2006.Quote:"This horrendous situation is all the more regrettable because it was easily avoidable. The state used a drug combination -- for the first time and untested -- because it was in a rush to execute the two men scheduled for a double execution.""More than anything, the debacle exposes the Oklahoma Supreme Court for acting expediently, when its stay of the execution to demand transparency about the drugs was challenged politically. The court vacated its stay when challenged by the governor and a political group that threatened to oppose a member of the Supreme Court who was facing voter approval for reappointment. This, unfortunately, is what's happening to our 'independent' judiciary -- groups and politicians feel free to challenge unpopular legal decisions on the basis of political considerations when they don't like the legal outcome.""For criminal justice, that commits criminal defendants to the will of the majority, the law be damned. But this has implications beyond areas often ignored and, in the future, can affect important issues about which people more generally care." _ _ _ _ Duke experts on a variety of other topics can be found at http://newsoffice.duke.edu/resources-media/faculty-experts.