Judge strikes Oklahoma lethal injection law because source of drugs is secret

An Oklahoma judge struck the state’s lethal injection law as unconstitutional Wednesday, saying that it violated due process because it keeps secret from inmates the sources of drugs used in executions. The ruling by Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish follows recent adverse reactions by dying inmates during executions in…

Mar 26, 2014 6:10 PM CDT

Oklahoma delays two executions due to lack of drugs needed for lethal injection

A lack of lethal injection drugs has led to the postponement, until next month, of two scheduled Oklahoma executions. Sidestepping, at least for now, constitutional claims by two convicted murderers that they are entitled to know the source of the drugs to be used in their executions, a state appeals…

Mar 18, 2014 11:15 PM CDT

States are resorting to elaborate steps to obtain lethal injection drugs, report says

Death penalty states are taking elaborate steps to secure drugs for use in lethal injections, USA Today reports. Prison officials from one state traveled to another to exchange muscle relaxants for sedatives; prison officials in another state drove to an out-of-state pharmacy with $11,000 in cash to buy execution drugs;…

Mar 10, 2014 7:33 PM CDT

States keep mum on where lethal injection drugs are made

Mar 1, 2014 10:19 AM CST

After four years without an execution, Tennessee seeks dates for 10 lethal injections

Tennessee has executed only six inmates since 1960 and none since 2009. Now its attorney general wants execution dates set for 10 condemned killers. Attorney General Robert Cooper asked the state supreme court to set the dates in “an unprecedented push to carry out the death penalty,” the Tennessean reports.…

Dec 5, 2013 1:33 PM CST

DC Circuit blocks import of lethal injection drug

A federal appeals court has upheld a court order that blocks importation of the lethal injection drug sodium thiopental, a sedative used to anesthetize inmates before they receive drugs that cause death. The U.S. Court of Appeals said the Food and Drug Administration should not have allowed states to import…

Jul 24, 2013 1:51 PM CDT

In ‘truly bizarre’ situation, FDA, DOJ and federal judge differ on ‘Plan B’ pill sale to teens

In the latest round of a hard-fought political battle over the issue of whether the so-called morning-after birth control pill should be available without a prescription to 15- and 16-year-olds, a federal regulatory agency has told pharmacies they are free to sell one brand, Plan B One-Step, over the counter,…

May 2, 2013 4:15 PM CDT

Judge Issues Tentative Decision Tossing California Lethal Injection Procedure

A California judge issued a tentative decision on Thursday finding prison officials failed to follow the law when adopting new state procedures for lethal injection. If the judge’s decision is upheld, the Associated Press reports, it will “throw California’s stalled capital punishment system into further doubt.” Judge Faye D’Opal of…

Dec 16, 2011 1:57 PM CST

HHS Secty Nixes FDA’s OK of Nonprescription Sale of Plan B Emergency Contraceptive to Teens Under 17

The Food and Drug Administration was ready to approve a Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. proposal to sell the company’s Plan B One-Step emergency contraceptive to girls under age 17 over the counter, without a prescription. But, in an unusual move, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today blocked the…

Dec 8, 2011 12:32 AM CST

Swiss Drug Maker Wants No Part of Nebraska’s Lethal Injection Regime

A Swiss drug company has asked Nebraska officials to return a drug it made that the state plans to use for the execution of death row inmates. The CEO of Naari says the company did not supply the drug to the state and would never support its use in a…

Nov 30, 2011 8:09 PM CST

Arizona Cannabis Clubs Sued by State AG

Four cannabis clubs in Arizona, where voters last year passed a law allowing medical marijuana use, were sued today by the state attorney general, who alleges that the groups’ actions run afoul of the new ordinance. The lawsuit was filed in Maricopa County Superior Court. According to the state attorney…

Aug 8, 2011 7:07 PM CDT

Florida Drug Law Struck Down, Could Change Thousands of Convictions

Florida’s Drug Abuse Prevention and Control law, which in 2002 was amended to remove language that intent was required for a conviction, was recently overturned in Orlando federal court. Defense lawyers there told the St. Petersburg Times that the July 27 order (PDF) will affect thousands of cases. The law…

Jul 29, 2011 6:50 PM CDT

There’s ‘Strong Evidence’ Sedative for Lethal Injection Was Illegally Imported, Nebraska Lawyer Says

There is “strong evidence” lethal injection sedative used in Nebraska is being illegally imported from India, according to a lawyer there who handles capital cases, and using it brings brings legal and humane risks, he wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Alan Peterson, who practices in…

Apr 12, 2011 6:57 PM CDT

DEA Seizes Lethal Injection Drug from Ga. Corrections Department

Georgia’s Department of Corrections turned proactive when a limited supply of a lethal injection drug delayed some executions in the United States. The state imported the sedative sodium thiopental from England and used it two months ago in a three-drug execution cocktail to execute Emmanuel Hammond, convicted of the shotgun…

Mar 16, 2011 11:22 AM CDT

Some Say It’s Time to Rethink Cannabis Regulation

Approach the squat, green-and-white building at a busy corner in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Palms, and you might be tempted to order two pieces of Original Recipe. On closer inspection, one sees that what used to be a Kentucky Fried Chicken store is no longer, and that KFC now…

Dec 10, 2010 11:28 PM CST