The VLW Blog

A divided panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld yesterday the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedures Virginia uses to execute inmates sentenced to death.

The opinion, Emmett v. Johnson, had been watched closely because it was the first federal appellate decision since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Baze v. Rees, that upheld the constitutionality of Kentucky’s method of executing inmates. Kentucky uses the same three-drug cocktail that Virginia uses, but the attorneys for Christopher Scott Emmett contended that there are enough differences in the way the drugs are administered to at least require a remand to district court for an evidentiary examination of those differences.

Fourth Circuit Judges William B. Traxler Jr. and Dennis C. Shedd concluded that the procedures were close enough that no remand is necessary.

Judge Roger L. Gregory dissented. He noted the recent observation by the Supreme Court that “[w]hen the law punishes by death, it risks its own sudden descent into brutality. . . .” Gregory said, “[F]ailing to remand to the district court for further fact-finding sends us tumbling faster into that abyss.”

By Alan Cooper

As reported on SCOTUSblog: In a widely splintered decision, the Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared the way for death-row executions to resume across the country, concluding that the most common method of lethal injection does not violate the Constitution.

The Washington Post notes that Governor Kaine acted quickly to reinstate the death penalty in Virginia.

Yesterday, the American Bar Association renewed its call for a nationwide moratorium on use of the death penalty; the group issued a report based on several states’ experience, calling the system “deeply flawed.” Virginia was not one of the states studied.

Through a spokesman, Attorney General Bob McDonnell says he disagrees with the ABA study, adding that the death penalty is constitutional and that the system works.

As a practical matter, there has been a general freeze in executions across the country since Sept. 25, when the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of a Kentucky man challenging lethal injections as cruel and unusual punishment.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the story.

Three death-penalty law experts met yesterday at the University of Richmond law school. Even with the U.S. Supreme Court poised to rule soon on whether lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment, they agreed the debate over the death penalty won’t be over any time in the near future. The Richmond Times-Dispatch has the story.