Alan Johnson of the Columbus Dispatch asked in a recent column: Will a British-made drug be used in Ohio executions? Or will a dozen convicted killers get a temporary reprieve? I answered that question in a recent blog, http://mattmangino.blogspot.com/2010/11/scotus-opens-door-to-substitute.html.
According to the Dispatch, a national shortage of thiopental sodium has prison officials in Ohio and three dozen other states scrambling to figure out how to carry out legally required lethal-injection executions.
Arizona came up with its own solution, buying thiopental sodium from a British manufacturer so it could execute Jeffrey Landrigan, 50, last week.
A British newspaper, The Guardian, said Arizona obtained the drug from Archimedes Pharma UK, the sole British manufacturer.
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction officials say they have enough of the drug for the execution of Sidney Cornwell of Mahoning County, scheduled for November 16. Beyond that, the supply is uncertain.
Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn declined to tell the Dispatch whether the state has considered or will consider buying from Great Britain or other foreign sources.
No executions are scheduled in Ohio in December or January, but two are set after that: Frank Spisak of Cuyahoga County in February and Johnnie Baston of Lucas County in March.
In addition, county prosecutors from across the state have petitioned the Ohio Supreme Court to set execution dates in 10 other cases. The court has not acted on the requests, but monthly dates throughout 2011 have been put "on hold" for possible executions.
According to the Dispatch, the problem is a result of a supply shortage from the sole U.S. manufacturer of thiopental sodium, Hospira Inc. of Lake Forest, Ill. The company said it doesn't expect to be able to resume production until the first quarter of next year because of a shortage from a supplier of raw material.
Further, Hospira wrote to Ohio and all other states, objecting to the use of the drug for executions. The company said its product is intended to "improve or save lives," not to take them.
In December, Ohio became the first state to switch to a single drug for executions, replacing a three-drug mixture that also uses thiopental sodium. Washington state followed suit.
Although Ohio has an alternative method of execution involving intramuscular injections of strong painkillers, it will be used only as a backup when the single-drug method fails, officials said.
Although the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, cleared the way for Arizona to use the foreign-made drug, legal challenges are in the works. I recently wrote about a lawsuit filed in London on behalf of Edmund Zagorski, a Tennessee inmate scheduled to be executed in January. Tennessee is among several states looking into buying thiopental sodium from foreign sources. http://mattmangino.blogspot.com/2010/11/uk-abolitionists-fight-export-of.html
To read more: http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/11/05/copy/ohio-is-running-out-of-execution-drug.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
UK Abolitionists Fight Export of Execution Drug
Death penalty opponents, especially those opposed to getting drugs for lethal injection overseas, have an ally in Great Britain. According to Gather.com, Reprieve, a death penalty opposition group,is seeking judicial review in the UK to halt the sale of the sedative sodium thiopental to the United States.
Sodium thiopental is one of three drugs used for lethal injection in most states. However, it is the single drug used for execution in Ohio and Washington. Reprieve is taking advantage of the shortage in America of sodium thiopental which has forced the postponement of executions in Oklahoma and Kentucky. However, an execution was carried out in Arizona with a drug presumably obtained in the UK.
The group first appealed to Vince Cable, the British Business Secretary, requesting that they stop shipping the drug to the US. Cable declined the request.
Reprieve has revealed that they are working on behalf of Tennessee death row inmate Edmund Zagorski. In 1983, Zagorski was convicted of killing two men during a drug deal. Zagorski faces execution on January 11, 2011. Clive Stafford Smith, the director of Reprieve characterized the sale of sodium thiopental, as a collection of blood money. There was no indication of what Smith would call the murder of two men during a drug deal-"legitimate business practice."
The drug shortage issue has lost some steam in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Landrigan v. Arizona. The high court, in a terse one-page order, agreed by a 5-4 decision with Arizona prosecutors that there was no reason to force the state to disclosure were the lethal injection drugs were obtained.
"There was no showing that the drug was unlawfully obtained, nor was there an offer of proof to that effect," the court order said.
Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts were in the majority, lifting the stay. I wrote about Landrigan's execution last week, http://mattmangino.blogspot.com/2010/10/condemned-mans-final-words-boomer.html.
To read more: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978657495
Sodium thiopental is one of three drugs used for lethal injection in most states. However, it is the single drug used for execution in Ohio and Washington. Reprieve is taking advantage of the shortage in America of sodium thiopental which has forced the postponement of executions in Oklahoma and Kentucky. However, an execution was carried out in Arizona with a drug presumably obtained in the UK.
The group first appealed to Vince Cable, the British Business Secretary, requesting that they stop shipping the drug to the US. Cable declined the request.
Reprieve has revealed that they are working on behalf of Tennessee death row inmate Edmund Zagorski. In 1983, Zagorski was convicted of killing two men during a drug deal. Zagorski faces execution on January 11, 2011. Clive Stafford Smith, the director of Reprieve characterized the sale of sodium thiopental, as a collection of blood money. There was no indication of what Smith would call the murder of two men during a drug deal-"legitimate business practice."
The drug shortage issue has lost some steam in light of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Landrigan v. Arizona. The high court, in a terse one-page order, agreed by a 5-4 decision with Arizona prosecutors that there was no reason to force the state to disclosure were the lethal injection drugs were obtained.
"There was no showing that the drug was unlawfully obtained, nor was there an offer of proof to that effect," the court order said.
Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and John Roberts were in the majority, lifting the stay. I wrote about Landrigan's execution last week, http://mattmangino.blogspot.com/2010/10/condemned-mans-final-words-boomer.html.
To read more: http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978657495
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Alabama Man Executed for Killing Daughter's Boyfriend
The 45th Execution of 2010
The Associated Press is reporting that a man condemned for killing his daughter's 16-year-old boyfriend in rural south Alabama in 1987 was executed Thursday without admitting to his daughter what she called the damage he caused by the killing and abusing her for years.
Phillip Hallford was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. at Holman Prison and declined to say any final words. The 63-year-old Hallford spoke softly to the chaplain and guards for a few minutes as the injection was administered.
He was sentenced to die for forcing his then-15-year-old daughter to lure Eddie Shannon to an isolated area in Dale County, shooting the teen three times and throwing the body off a bridge. Trial testimony showed he was angry because they were dating.
His daughter, Melinda Hallford Powell, also says he sexually abused her and had never admitted it.
Powell was at her home in North Carolina and unable to attend the execution. She said she was "relieved" to hear that Hallford was dead.
"Now he's not going to hurt anybody else," she said.
Powell had said she hoped her father would admit to what he did to her and to Shannon before he died, but he didn't, only replying "no" when Warden Tony Patterson asked him if had anything to say.
Prison officials then began to administer the injection. Lying quietly strapped to a gurney, the bald, heavyset Hallford appeared calm. He closed his eyes, stopped moving and quietly slipped away.
Told that Hallford had nothing to say, Powell said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Gov. Bob Riley refused to grant clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hallford's final appeal just minutes before the injection.
To read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ala-man-executed-for-720599.html
The Associated Press is reporting that a man condemned for killing his daughter's 16-year-old boyfriend in rural south Alabama in 1987 was executed Thursday without admitting to his daughter what she called the damage he caused by the killing and abusing her for years.
Phillip Hallford was pronounced dead at 6:26 p.m. at Holman Prison and declined to say any final words. The 63-year-old Hallford spoke softly to the chaplain and guards for a few minutes as the injection was administered.
He was sentenced to die for forcing his then-15-year-old daughter to lure Eddie Shannon to an isolated area in Dale County, shooting the teen three times and throwing the body off a bridge. Trial testimony showed he was angry because they were dating.
His daughter, Melinda Hallford Powell, also says he sexually abused her and had never admitted it.
Powell was at her home in North Carolina and unable to attend the execution. She said she was "relieved" to hear that Hallford was dead.
"Now he's not going to hurt anybody else," she said.
Powell had said she hoped her father would admit to what he did to her and to Shannon before he died, but he didn't, only replying "no" when Warden Tony Patterson asked him if had anything to say.
Prison officials then began to administer the injection. Lying quietly strapped to a gurney, the bald, heavyset Hallford appeared calm. He closed his eyes, stopped moving and quietly slipped away.
Told that Hallford had nothing to say, Powell said, "I'm sorry to hear that."
Gov. Bob Riley refused to grant clemency and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Hallford's final appeal just minutes before the injection.
To read more: http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/ala-man-executed-for-720599.html
Alabama Has Drug for Today's Execution
Alabama prison officials have an adequate supply of sodium thiopental needed for the execution of Phillip Hallford scheduled today, according to the Associated Press. He was condemned to die for the 1987 shooting death of his pregnant daughter's boyfriend in Dale County.
A national shortage of sodium thiopental has delayed some executions in other states, and Arizona had to go overseas to obtain the drug for an execution last week.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last month for the execution of the 63-year-old Hallford. Assistant Alabama Attorney General Clay Crenshaw said Monday there are no legal filings pending to stop the execution. According to the Associated Press, Hallford's attorney, Andrew Kantra, said he was evaluating their options.
A national shortage of sodium thiopental has delayed some executions in other states, and Arizona had to go overseas to obtain the drug for an execution last week.
The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way last month for the execution of the 63-year-old Hallford. Assistant Alabama Attorney General Clay Crenshaw said Monday there are no legal filings pending to stop the execution. According to the Associated Press, Hallford's attorney, Andrew Kantra, said he was evaluating their options.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Prison Expenditures Down for the First Time in Years
A report released today by the Vera Institute of Justice’s Center on Sentencing and Corrections suggests that after decades of increases in corrections spending, states are trying something new. The Continuing Fiscal Crisis in Corrections: Setting a New Course is based on a two-part investigation that sought to gauge the current status of states’ corrections policies: Vera staff surveyed state officials about their planned corrections spending for fiscal year 2011 and reviewed states’ recent corrections-related legislative initiatives. The results show officials planning to spend less even as they initiate changes aimed at shoring up public safety.
“In what may portend a new era of sentencing and corrections policy, many states are cutting corrections appropriations, which were long seen as untouchable because of the perceived impact on public safety, and investing in ‘smart on crime’ solutions,” says Peggy McGarry, director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections. “For those of us who have worked in the sentencing and corrections field for many years, these changes—should they persist—are astonishing.”
In a departure from decades of funding increases, the combined corrections appropriations of 44 states that responded to Vera’s survey are down for fiscal year 2011. Pennsylvania was on of the few states to increase their expenditures a 4.9-percent increase.
Although the total reduction is just 1.05 percent, this represents an important change. At the same time, states have been pursuing legislative initiatives that include investments in evidence-based innovations for reducing the incarcerated population, such as reducing prison terms for nonviolent offenders, relaxing mandatory-minimum sentences, and creating drug courts and other problem-solving courts.
According to the report’s authors, two factors are driving these developments. First, ongoing budget pressures are compelling officials to seek savings whenever safely possible. At the same time, states are drawing on decades of research and using identified policies and practices that can be counted on to yield positive results.
“As they cut corrections appropriations, state legislators and other policy makers are increasingly making policy choices that are based on research, analysis, and evaluation, with the goal of making more effective use of limited funds,” says McGarry. “The message has finally become clear: It is possible to reduce corrections spending while also enhancing public safety.”
As a complement to the study, the Center on Sentencing and Corrections has created an interactive online resource highlighting data from the new report. The page features a map and chart illustrating changes in individual states’ corrections spending from fiscal year 2010 to 2011, including sources, such as emergency stimulus funds disbursed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“In what may portend a new era of sentencing and corrections policy, many states are cutting corrections appropriations, which were long seen as untouchable because of the perceived impact on public safety, and investing in ‘smart on crime’ solutions,” says Peggy McGarry, director of the Center on Sentencing and Corrections. “For those of us who have worked in the sentencing and corrections field for many years, these changes—should they persist—are astonishing.”
In a departure from decades of funding increases, the combined corrections appropriations of 44 states that responded to Vera’s survey are down for fiscal year 2011. Pennsylvania was on of the few states to increase their expenditures a 4.9-percent increase.
Although the total reduction is just 1.05 percent, this represents an important change. At the same time, states have been pursuing legislative initiatives that include investments in evidence-based innovations for reducing the incarcerated population, such as reducing prison terms for nonviolent offenders, relaxing mandatory-minimum sentences, and creating drug courts and other problem-solving courts.
According to the report’s authors, two factors are driving these developments. First, ongoing budget pressures are compelling officials to seek savings whenever safely possible. At the same time, states are drawing on decades of research and using identified policies and practices that can be counted on to yield positive results.
“As they cut corrections appropriations, state legislators and other policy makers are increasingly making policy choices that are based on research, analysis, and evaluation, with the goal of making more effective use of limited funds,” says McGarry. “The message has finally become clear: It is possible to reduce corrections spending while also enhancing public safety.”
As a complement to the study, the Center on Sentencing and Corrections has created an interactive online resource highlighting data from the new report. The page features a map and chart illustrating changes in individual states’ corrections spending from fiscal year 2010 to 2011, including sources, such as emergency stimulus funds disbursed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Bloggers Beware: The Courts are Reading
Bloggers are the target of a series of voir dire questions in the state of Washington. According to The Crime Report and the Kitsap Sun, potential jurors in a Kitsap County, murder case were asked last week, “Have you ever written a letter-to-the-editor or ‘blog’ about any story you may have read or heard about relating to violent crime?” Prosecutor Kevin Hull said the “blogging” question could help reveal whether potential jurors have pre-formed opinions about the case, the defendant, or violent crime in general, reports the Kitsap Sun. (None of 200 who received the jurors’ questionnaire had answered yes on blogging as of Thursday.)
The new social media technology has emerged rapidly and the law has lumbered along in response to it, said Eric Robinson of the Reynolds Center for the Courts and Media in Reno, Nevada. Social media won’t inherently have a positive or negative impact on the court’s ability to administer a fair trial, Robinson said. He likens the changes to those that took place in courthouses when the telephone was invented — judges adjusted to having more information fanning out from their courtrooms more quickly and with greater opining. “I don’t think it’s necessarily good or bad for the courts,” he said. “They just have to deal with it.”
Link: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/oct/30/lawyers-in-sk-murder-trial-asking-would-be-if-on/
The new social media technology has emerged rapidly and the law has lumbered along in response to it, said Eric Robinson of the Reynolds Center for the Courts and Media in Reno, Nevada. Social media won’t inherently have a positive or negative impact on the court’s ability to administer a fair trial, Robinson said. He likens the changes to those that took place in courthouses when the telephone was invented — judges adjusted to having more information fanning out from their courtrooms more quickly and with greater opining. “I don’t think it’s necessarily good or bad for the courts,” he said. “They just have to deal with it.”
Link: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2010/oct/30/lawyers-in-sk-murder-trial-asking-would-be-if-on/
Monday, November 1, 2010
SCOTUS Opens the Door to Substitute Execution Drugs
Last week Arizona executed Jeffrey Landrigan amid lingering questions about where the state obtained the sodium thiopental for the execution. The U.S. Supreme Court, by a 5-4 decision, found "There is no evidence in the record to suggest that the drug obtained from a foreign source is unsafe." The majority consisted of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
In the Supreme Court's divided order allowing the execution of Landrigan, the justices spurned arguments about the safety of a lethal injection mix and appear to have allowed the first U.S. execution using a drug from a foreign country, according to the USA Today.
Prison officials face a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, one of the three drugs used in lethal injections. The sodium thiopental shortage has threatened to block executions in Oklahoma and Kentucky. New supplies are not likely to be available until 2011. Most states use a three-drug cocktail of which sodium thiopental is one of the drugs. Ohio and Washington use only a single lethal dose of sodium thiopental for lethal injection in their respective states.
According to the USA Today, lawyers who follow capital punishment said it appeared to be the first time any state relied on an overseas drug maker. Arizona Chief Deputy Attorney General Tim Nelson said last week that it was the first time Arizona had to use a foreign drug. He also said it came from "a reputable source" and that officials believe it's safe. The drug apparently came from a British company.
Fordham University law professor Deborah Denno, an expert on capital punishment told the USA Today, “This is the first time that we've been aware of that this drug has been imported." The High Court’s decision and the action of Arizona officials seems to open the door to other states to seek sodium thiopental from international sources.
Ohio has admitted to a shortage of sodium thiopental. The state has its record 9th execution scheduled this month. Ohio was also the first state to move away from the three drug cocktail to a single drug method of execution. Ohio will be the next state to seek sodium thiopental from alternative sources or substitute another drug for purposes of carrying out executions.
To read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/supremecourtopinions/2010-10-27-supreme-court-lethal-injection_N.htm?csp=34news
In the Supreme Court's divided order allowing the execution of Landrigan, the justices spurned arguments about the safety of a lethal injection mix and appear to have allowed the first U.S. execution using a drug from a foreign country, according to the USA Today.
Prison officials face a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental, one of the three drugs used in lethal injections. The sodium thiopental shortage has threatened to block executions in Oklahoma and Kentucky. New supplies are not likely to be available until 2011. Most states use a three-drug cocktail of which sodium thiopental is one of the drugs. Ohio and Washington use only a single lethal dose of sodium thiopental for lethal injection in their respective states.
According to the USA Today, lawyers who follow capital punishment said it appeared to be the first time any state relied on an overseas drug maker. Arizona Chief Deputy Attorney General Tim Nelson said last week that it was the first time Arizona had to use a foreign drug. He also said it came from "a reputable source" and that officials believe it's safe. The drug apparently came from a British company.
Fordham University law professor Deborah Denno, an expert on capital punishment told the USA Today, “This is the first time that we've been aware of that this drug has been imported." The High Court’s decision and the action of Arizona officials seems to open the door to other states to seek sodium thiopental from international sources.
Ohio has admitted to a shortage of sodium thiopental. The state has its record 9th execution scheduled this month. Ohio was also the first state to move away from the three drug cocktail to a single drug method of execution. Ohio will be the next state to seek sodium thiopental from alternative sources or substitute another drug for purposes of carrying out executions.
To read more: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/supremecourtopinions/2010-10-27-supreme-court-lethal-injection_N.htm?csp=34news
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