Byrner
04-17-2008, 05:10 PM
For Tommy Arthur and around 19 other U.S. death row inmates, a Supreme Court ruling approving lethal injection will likely signal early execution dates.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley stayed Arthur's execution in September hours before the convicted murderer was due to die at Holman prison. His daughter said she now expected the stay to be lifted.
"My father will be (among) the first persons to be executed," said Sherrie Stone, adding that the court's decision came as no surprise. Arthur was convicted of the murder-for-hire of his girlfriend's husband.
By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge by two Kentucky death row inmates who argued the current lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by inflicting needless pain and suffering.
The court agreed to hear the Kentucky case last September and about 20 inmates including Arthur were given stays of execution pending its ruling, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Alabama's Attorney General Troy King and officials in other states said they would waste no time in lifting the stays.
"Today's decision has removed the barrier that has impeded justice for the past year," King said. "There can be no greater call than to once again diligently seek enforcement of death sentences that have lingered far too long."
Missouri's governor called on the state supreme court to issue execution orders on pending cases and Georgia's attorney general appealed to its state supreme court to vacate stays of execution in two cases.
News Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1637219020080417
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley stayed Arthur's execution in September hours before the convicted murderer was due to die at Holman prison. His daughter said she now expected the stay to be lifted.
"My father will be (among) the first persons to be executed," said Sherrie Stone, adding that the court's decision came as no surprise. Arthur was convicted of the murder-for-hire of his girlfriend's husband.
By a 7-2 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a challenge by two Kentucky death row inmates who argued the current lethal injection method violated the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment by inflicting needless pain and suffering.
The court agreed to hear the Kentucky case last September and about 20 inmates including Arthur were given stays of execution pending its ruling, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Alabama's Attorney General Troy King and officials in other states said they would waste no time in lifting the stays.
"Today's decision has removed the barrier that has impeded justice for the past year," King said. "There can be no greater call than to once again diligently seek enforcement of death sentences that have lingered far too long."
Missouri's governor called on the state supreme court to issue execution orders on pending cases and Georgia's attorney general appealed to its state supreme court to vacate stays of execution in two cases.
News Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1637219020080417