Thursday, April 3, 2014

Update: On the other hand, who cares where the drugs came from?

In a shocking move, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Federal District Judge Vanessa Gilmore's order blocking two executions until such time as the state turns over details regarding the acquisition of the death drugs to the attorneys for Tommy Sells and Ramiro Hernandez-Llanas.
"Until Plaintiffs have full disclosure of their product with which Texas will cause their death, they cannot fully develop a challenge to its process. The question is not whether some error may cause a significant chance of pain in the execution procedure, but whether even a properly conducted execution will result in intolerable pain because of the standard used." -- Judge Vanessa Gilmore
So, according to the prosecution-friendly 5th Circuit, it doesn't matter how the state acquired the drugs. It doesn't matter from whom they acquired the drugs. It doesn't matter whether the drugs have been tested. It doesn't matter whether the drugs do what they are advertised to do. According to the 5th Circuit, the only thing that matters is making it easier for the state to kill inmates.

Pending an appeal to the US Supreme Court, the scheduled murder of Tommy Sells is back on the calendar. The status of Mr. Hernandez-Llanas date with the executioner is unknown.


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