Louisville Courier-Journal: A Useful Moratorium.
A useful moratorium
The Kentucky Supreme Court performed a valuable public service Wednesday when it put executions on hold by ruling that the state's lethal injection procedure must be outlined in a regulation.
The majority decision, written by Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson, is wise on its own merits. Lethal injection is a controversial method of capital punishment, raising questions about the qualifications of those who administer it and about whether it causes “cruel and unusual” levels of pain and paralysis. More pertinent to the Kentucky ruling, however, is Justice Abramson's argument that the lethal injection protocol “indisputably affects private rights” and therefore must not be implemented without meeting publication and public hearing requirements set forth in state statutes.
The timetable for adoption of a regulation, which includes an opportunity for the public to comment, normally is four to six months. Gov. Steve Beshear could short-circuit the process by issuing an emergency regulation that would go into effect while normal procedures continue, however. He should resist any such temptation. Death-row inmates in Kentucky spend many years, sometimes decades, awaiting execution, and there is no emergency that requires quickly putting one or several of them to death.
Indeed, the most important consequence of the court's ruling should be to put the brakes on any rush to carrying out death sentences in Kentucky by any method. State Attorney General Jack Conway appeared launched on such a course when he asked the Governor earlier this week to set execution dates for three convicted murderers.
Mr. Conway and Gov. Beshear have an obligation to enforce state law, but there is no rationale to be in a hurry. All of the crimes committed by the three men occurred at least 18 years ago. Nor would seeking to carry out a few executions in the near future be an appropriate response to a Courier-Journal study earlier this month that noted that only three of 92 Kentucky inmates sentenced to death since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 have been executed.
The lengthy and sometimes successful appeals of death sentences reflect obvious problems in convictions at the trial court level. That is why a better response to the state's death-row dilemma is the moratorium on executions in Kentucky sought by the American Bar Association. During that time, the ABA proposes, a 10-member team of state lawyers and former judges could study a range of critical issues, ranging from training of prosecutors and defense lawyers, to the handling of DNA evidence, to the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities and of mental retardation and mental illness.
That is a far more fruitful response to what is obviously a badly flawed system in Kentucky than would be a false urgency to carry out a showcase execution. The delay ordered by the Supreme Court should be used to advance such a study.
The Kentucky Supreme Court performed a valuable public service Wednesday when it put executions on hold by ruling that the state's lethal injection procedure must be outlined in a regulation.
The majority decision, written by Justice Lisabeth Hughes Abramson, is wise on its own merits. Lethal injection is a controversial method of capital punishment, raising questions about the qualifications of those who administer it and about whether it causes “cruel and unusual” levels of pain and paralysis. More pertinent to the Kentucky ruling, however, is Justice Abramson's argument that the lethal injection protocol “indisputably affects private rights” and therefore must not be implemented without meeting publication and public hearing requirements set forth in state statutes.
The timetable for adoption of a regulation, which includes an opportunity for the public to comment, normally is four to six months. Gov. Steve Beshear could short-circuit the process by issuing an emergency regulation that would go into effect while normal procedures continue, however. He should resist any such temptation. Death-row inmates in Kentucky spend many years, sometimes decades, awaiting execution, and there is no emergency that requires quickly putting one or several of them to death.
Indeed, the most important consequence of the court's ruling should be to put the brakes on any rush to carrying out death sentences in Kentucky by any method. State Attorney General Jack Conway appeared launched on such a course when he asked the Governor earlier this week to set execution dates for three convicted murderers.
Mr. Conway and Gov. Beshear have an obligation to enforce state law, but there is no rationale to be in a hurry. All of the crimes committed by the three men occurred at least 18 years ago. Nor would seeking to carry out a few executions in the near future be an appropriate response to a Courier-Journal study earlier this month that noted that only three of 92 Kentucky inmates sentenced to death since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976 have been executed.
The lengthy and sometimes successful appeals of death sentences reflect obvious problems in convictions at the trial court level. That is why a better response to the state's death-row dilemma is the moratorium on executions in Kentucky sought by the American Bar Association. During that time, the ABA proposes, a 10-member team of state lawyers and former judges could study a range of critical issues, ranging from training of prosecutors and defense lawyers, to the handling of DNA evidence, to the treatment of racial and ethnic minorities and of mental retardation and mental illness.
That is a far more fruitful response to what is obviously a badly flawed system in Kentucky than would be a false urgency to carry out a showcase execution. The delay ordered by the Supreme Court should be used to advance such a study.
Labels: News reporting
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 3:03 PM
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