Thursday, October 4, 2007

civilization grinds to a halt

If Texas isn't executing evildoers, da tarrists have won.

HOUSTON — Signaling an indefinite halt to executions in Texas, the state's highest criminal appeals court late Tuesday stayed the lethal injection of a 28-year-old Honduran man who was scheduled to be put to death Wednesday.

The reprieve by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was granted a week after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider whether a form of lethal injection constituted cruel and unusual punishment barred under the Eighth Amendment. On Thursday, the Supreme Court stepped in to halt a planned execution in Texas at the last minute, and though many legal experts interpreted that as a signal for all states to wait for a final ruling on lethal injection before any further executions, Texas officials said they planned to move ahead with more.

As a result, Tuesday's ruling by the Texas court was seen as a sign that judges in the nation's leading death penalty state were taking guidance from the Supreme Court and putting off imminent executions.

2 comments:

Corms said...

Texas will come up with a new method of execution, perhaps sentencing the guilty to hunting with Dick "Dead Eye" Cheney.

Smiff said...

They should bring back the rack. Or, even better, crucifixion.