Supreme Court stays another Florida execution News
Supreme Court stays another Florida execution

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website] on Tuesday ordered a stay on the execution of Florida inmate and convicted murderer Arthur Rutherford [NCADP advocacy letter], who claims that the Florida execution procedure violates Eighth Amendment guarantees against cruel and unusual punishment. The Court will not lift the order until after it decides the case of another Florida death row inmate, Clarence Hill [NCADP advocacy letter], whose execution was similarly stayed last week when the justices granted his petition for certiorari [JURIST report]. Both cases turn on the issue of whether the lethal injection cocktail used by the Florida Department of Corrections violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment where it may not fully anesthetize inmates. AP has more.