In November last year, we reported on the capital punishment moratorium in America. Now, AMS student Kirsty Callaghan reports on recent updates in the case:In a 7-2 decision, the US Supreme Court has ruled today to continue allowing the use of the three-drug protocol in the execution of prisoners. The case, put to the Court in autumn 2007, was based on the claim that the combination of three drugs administered to prisoners was in violation of their Eighth Amendment rights, protecting against “cruel and unusual punishments”. The ruling ends the moratorium on executions in place since the case was put to the Court and executions can now proceed in the 35 states which use capital punishment. However, Justice John Paul Stevens, whilst concurring with the majority, wrote that he saw the ruling not as the end, but as the beginning of a debate on the use of what he views as a punishment in need of proper examination and deliberation.
More information about the ruling can be found here, here and here.
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