Image: Artist’s depiction of Supreme Court-approved execution
The Supreme Court’s conservative majority, in a 5-4 decision, ruled today that states can continue executing condemned criminals with the drug Midazolam despite a string of botched executions in several states.
A reporter who has over 20 years of experience covering the Supreme Court described the case as “the most contentious I’ve seen.” Alito accused death penalty foes of waging “guerrilla war” by trying to deprive states of effective execution drugs. Kagan retorted that states are having prisoners “burned alive from the inside.”
While conservatives won this skirmish, the victory came at a cost; at least two liberal justices are now openly suggesting the constitutionality of the death penalty is back on the table, and a spokesperson for a conservative think tank expects to see such a challenge reaching the Court “in the near future.”
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