Up In Smoke: Voter Reactions Have Some Saying It’s Time to Rethink Cannabis Regulation

Dec 1, 2010 7:50 AM CST

Judge Allows Animal Drug to Be Used in Lethal Injections in Oklahoma

A sedative used to euthanize animals can be used to execute death-row inmates in Oklahoma, a federal judge has ruled. Oklahoma prison officials want to administer pentobarbital, used on animals and in physician-assisted suicides in Oregon and the Netherlands, according to the Associated Press and NewsOK.com. On Friday U.S. District…

Nov 23, 2010 12:00 PM CST

Who Gets the Lethal Injection? Drug Shortage Creates ‘Russian Roulette’ Scenario

A national shortage of sodium thiopental, one of three drugs commonly included in a lethal cocktail used to execute prison inmates on death row, has created a “Russian roulette” scenario in at least one state and could do so in 34 more, an expert says. Death Penalty Information Center Director…

Sep 28, 2010 7:36 PM CDT

Lawyers and ‘Suited Geeks’ Turn Out for Cannabis Convention

Lawyers hoping to find new clients were among those attending the Colorado Cannabis Convention this past weekend. More than half a dozen lawyers that are gaining experience in medical marijuana law showed up at the convention, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reports. Medicial marijuana dispensaries started springing up like weeds…

Apr 6, 2010 11:00 AM CDT

6th Circuit Stays Execution of Ohio Inmate Due to Lethal Injection Concerns

A federal appeals court has stayed the execution of an Ohio inmate until a federal appeals court can hear arguments over the state’s lethal injection process. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the execution of Lawrence Reynolds, who was scheduled to die on Thursday, according to the…

Oct 5, 2009 3:23 PM CDT

Lawsuit Spurs Washington’s Lethal Injection Team to Quit

The state of Washington is without a team to administer lethal injections after all four of its members resigned in response to a lawsuit. The four volunteers, all who currently or previously worked for the Department of Corrections, apparently fear their names will become public as a result of a…

Apr 3, 2009 3:57 PM CDT

Judge: FDA Overstepped Bounds in Restricting ‘Plan B’ Contraceptive

A federal regulatory agency overstepped its bounds in limiting access to the so-called “Plan B” emergency contraceptive, a federal judge has ruled. In setting special requirements for the controversial contraceptive, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “departed in significant ways from the agency’s normal procedures regarding similar applications to switch…

Mar 23, 2009 8:13 PM CDT

Why Supreme Court OK’d Suits Over Drug Labels, But Not Medical Devices

Companies arguing that their federally regulated products are not subject to state court lawsuits could face difficulties absent an express congressional pronouncement after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling yesterday in a drug labeling case. The decision in Wyeth v. Levine, which refused to shield drug companies from lawsuits over their…

Mar 5, 2009 2:14 PM CST

U.S. Considers Using Drug Law to Prosecute Blackwater Guards

Federal prosecutors are reportedly readying indictments for the Blackwater Worldwide guards who are alleged to have participated in the 2007 shooting deaths of Iraqi civilians. The shootings left 17 dead and strained U.S.-Iraq relations. Now prosecutors are considering using an anti-drug law to prosecute those involved, the Associated Press reports.…

Dec 4, 2008 11:34 PM CST

Appeals Court Reviews Va. Lethal Injections, Considers ‘Excruciating Death’

A federal appeals court considered yesterday whether Virginia’s method of lethal injection is constitutional. The oral arguments before the Richmond, Va.-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals were the first to be held at the appellate level since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky’s three-drug lethal injection cocktail in April,…

May 15, 2008 3:55 PM CDT

Lynd Execution the First Since Lethal Injection Ruling

William Earl Lynd was put to death in Georgia last night, the first execution since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Kentucky’s widely used lethal injection procedure. The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a last-minute request for a stay last night, the Washington Post reports. Justice John Paul Stevens did not…

May 7, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Death Penalty Opponents See Litigation Roadmap in Lethal Injection Decision

Lawyers for death row inmates will try to show that the lethal injection procedures in their states are different from Kentucky’s after yesterday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding the state’s three-drug execution cocktail. The plurality opinion by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said states with execution methods “substantially similar”…

Apr 17, 2008 10:48 AM CDT

Riegel Will Affect Many—But Not All—Medical Device Suits

Lawyers representing plaintiffs in lawsuits alleging injuries for medical devices were bracing for waves of dismissal motions after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling Wednesday. The court ruled in Riegel v. Medtronic that manufacturers of medical devices winning a rigorous pre-market approval from the Food and Drug Administration cannot be sued…

Feb 22, 2008 4:50 PM CST

Court Finds Pre-Emption in Rulings Trio on Medical Devices, Tobacco Regs, Arbitration

Updated: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled in three federal pre-emption cases, favoring federal laws over state regulation and common-law lawsuits, SCOTUSblog reports. In Riegel v. Medtronic, the court held that pre-market approval of medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration bars injury lawsuits by those who say they…

Feb 20, 2008 3:57 PM CST

Justices’ Questions Could Shine Light on Lethal Injection Secrecy

Lawyers challenging lethal injection procedures have been hampered by states’ refusal to disclose details about the three-drug cocktail and the identity of executioners. But justices’ questions in oral arguments today before the U.S. Supreme Court could help bring to light the controversy over access to information, the Los Angeles Times…

Jan 7, 2008 4:03 PM CST