October 31, 2007

SCOTUS Stays Another Execution

The Supreme Court granted a last-minute stay of execution for a convicted murderer in Mississippi last night, the third execution by lethal injection the justices blocked since they agreed to consider the constitutionality of such punishments. SCOTUSblog reports that the stay was issued about 15 minutes before Earl Wesley Berry, who kidnapped and murdered Mary Bounds in 1987, was scheduled to die.

The high court is reviewing Berry's petition to the appeal on the basis of the argument that lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment. If the petition is denied, the execution will go on as planned, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. But if the justices agree to take it up, the stay will remain in place until a final ruling is made.

The New York Times this morning calls the stay "a nearly indisputable indication that a majority intends to block all executions until the court decides a lethal injection case from Kentucky next spring." Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito were the two dissenters, and none of the justices gave reasons for their decisions.

The Washington Post has more on this story, and the Clarion-Ledger has reports on reactions from the victim's family and death penalty opponents.

Posted at 7:55 AM
Posted to: Supreme Court
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