High Court Looks At Death Row Inmate’s IQ Scores

The case being argued Monday at the court centers on how authorities determine who is eligible to be put to death.

Associated Press
By Associated Press
The execution chamber at the Washington State Penitentiary is shown with the witness gallery behind glass at right, in Walla Walla, Wash.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is hearing an appeal from a Florida death row inmate who claims he is protected from execution because he is mentally disabled. The case being argued Monday at the court centers on how authorities determine who is eligible to be put to death, 12 years after the justices prohibited the execution of the mentally

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Europe At Origin Of Chronic US Execution Dilemma

The phenomenon started nine years ago when the EU banned the export of products used for execution, citing its goal to be the “leading institutional actor and largest donor to the fight against the death penalty.”

Associated Press
By Associated Press
This Nov. 18, 2011 file photo shows the execution room at the Oregon State Penitentiary, in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)

BRUSSELS (AP) — There's one big reason the United States has a dearth of execution drugs so acute that some states are considering solutions such as firing squads and gas chambers: Europe won't allow the drugs to be exported because of its fierce hostility to capital punishment. The phenomenon started nine years ago when the EU banned the export

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States Consider Reviving Old-Fashioned Executions

“Many of these politicians are trying to tap into a more populist theme that those who do terrible things deserve to have terrible things happen to them…”

Associated Press
By Associated Press

ST. LOUIS (AP) — With lethal-injection drugs in short supply and new questions looming about their effectiveness, lawmakers in some death penalty states are considering bringing back relics of a more gruesome past: firing squads, electrocutions and gas chambers. Most states abandoned those execution methods more than a generation ago in a bid

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While Mexico Is Riled By Texas Execution, Many Actually Support The Death Penalty

John Kerry warned Texas officials that executing Tamayo would strain relations with the southern neighbor.

Dudley Althaus
By Dudley Althaus
Edelmira Arias is comforted while weeping at the home of the parents of Texas death-row inmate Edgar Tamayo, her cousin, in Miacatlan, Mexico, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected appeals Wednesday night for Mexican national Edgar Tamayo, clearing the way for the Texas death row inmate to be executed for the slaying of a Houston police officer 20 years ago. Secretary of State John Kerry previously asked Texas to delay Tamayo's punishment, saying it "could impact the way American citizens are treated in other countries." The State Department repeated that stance Wednesday. (AP Photo/Tony Rivera)

MEXICO CITY — Edgar Tamayo's execution in Texas on Wednesday is roiling US-Mexico relations and spurring public debate about the death penalty in both countries. A court sentenced Tamayo to death for the killing of a police officer 20 years ago. Recently, in efforts to stop the execution, Mexican officials and anti-death penalty advocates

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Gruesome Ohio Execution Brings Death Penalty Debate Back To Fold

‘Even if execution itself has not (yet) been found a violation of the US Constitution’s ban on ‘cruel’ and unusual punishment, certainly a torturous death using experimental drug combinations is’

Lauren McCauley
By Lauren McCauley
execution room

The botched and gruesome execution of convicted murderer Dennis McGuire last Thursday has brought the debate over the death penalty back to the forefront in Ohio and elsewhere as many question the humanity of a practice which, experimental or otherwise, may amount to cruel and unusual punishment. According to reports, it took McGuire 26 minutes

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UPDATE: Georgia Set To Execute Man With IQ Of 70

While executing “mentally retarded” people is illegal, the court never defined the term in its decision.

Mint Press News Desk
By Mint Press News Desk

UPDATE: Around 3:30 p.m. EST on Monday, it was announced that a Fulton County Judge had granted a stay of execution for Warren Hill until a hearing on lethal injection drugs could occur. The hearing is scheduled to take place at 8 a.m. on Thursday, July 18. Hill’s lawyers argued over the weekend that the state of Georgia had trouble obtaining the

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