Supreme Court Stops TX Execution
The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for a Texas death-row inmate in a move that suggests it may agree to halt lethal injections in additional cases.
The court yesterday agreed to block the execution of Carlton Turner Jr., convicted of killing his adoptive parents, the New York Times reports. Turner’s lawyers cited the court’s decision on Tuesday to accept a challenge to lethal injection by two Kentucky inmates, the Associated Press reports.
The votes of five justices were needed to halt the execution. The court did not give the reason for its decision to grant the stay.
Bryan Stevenson, executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, said the stay highlights court concerns with lethal injection. “It’s an indication that the court believes there are real questions about what states are doing in this area,” he told the New York Times.
The court granted a stay the same day that Alabama’s governor delayed the execution of inmate Tommy Arthur. Gov. Bob Riley said Arthur would not be put to death until the state revises its lethal injection formula.
The Kentucky case pending before the Supreme Court asks for guidance on the legal standard courts should use in deciding whether capital punishment procedures are constitutional.
