lethal injection

Death penalty opponent Herve Deschamps holds a sign during a vigil outside St. Francis Xavier College Church in St. Louis, hours before the 2014 scheduled execution of death row inmate Russell Bucklew.

Politics & Government

Supreme Court Closely Divides On 'Cruel And Unusual' Death Penalty Case

3:27pm April 01, 2019

by Domenico Montanaro

A divided court ruled against a Missouri man who said that because of a rare medical condition, death by lethal injection would constitute "cruel and unusual punishment."

Convicted murderer Carey Dean Moore did not put up a legal challenge to the execution protocol.

National

Nebraska Carries Out 1st Execution Using Fentanyl In U.S.

2:23pm August 14, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

A federal three-judge panel denied a drug company's request to halt the execution of Carey Dean Moore over concerns about whether the state obtained the drugs improperly.

The gurney in the the execution chamber at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester, Okla.

National

Oklahoma Plans To Use Nitrogen For Executions

3:24pm March 15, 2018

by Merrit Kennedy

After having trouble obtaining drugs needed for lethal injections, state officials plan to change the primary method of execution to nitrogen gas inhalation. It would be a first for a U.S. state.

Florida State Prison in Raiford, Fla., where Mark James Asay was held after being sentenced to die for two murders he committed in 1987.

National

Florida Man Is First To Die Under New Lethal Injection Protocol

7:00pm August 24, 2017

by Rebecca Hersher

Mark James Asay was convicted of killing two people in 1987. He was the first white person to be executed in Florida for killing a black person.

Inmate Ronald Phillips was executed at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, on Wednesday morning. Above, the prison's death chamber in 2005.

National

After Three-Year Hiatus, Ohio Carries Out An Execution

6:15pm July 26, 2017

by Laurel Wamsley

The lethal injection of Ronald Phillips may mark the end of Ohio's battle to find a legally permissible means of execution – and the state may soon execute more of the 138 people on its death row.

This undated photo provided by the Virginia Department of Corrections shows William Morva at the Greenville Correctional Center in Jarratt, Va. Morva is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday, July 6, for the 2006 killings of a hospital security gu

National

Virginia Executes Prisoner Despite International Calls For Clemency

9:55pm July 06, 2017

by Amy Held

William Morva, who was convicted for a 2006 double murder, died by lethal injection on Thursday night. His lawyers and the European Union said he suffered from severe mental illness.

The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility's death chamber has been unused since January 2014, when executions in the state were put on hold after problems putting an inmate to death.

National

Federal Appeals Court Paves Way For Ohio To Resume Lethal Injections

6:24pm June 28, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

It was a contentious decision that split the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges in an 8-6 vote. A lower court had halted executions. The judges focused on the effects of the sedative midazolam.

Arkansas wrapped up an aggressive execution schedule Thursday, putting to death its fourth inmate in eight days. Kenneth Williams, 38, received a lethal injection Thursday night at the Cummins Unit prison at Varner, Ark.

National

Arkansas Executes 4th Inmate In 8 Days

1:38am April 28, 2017

by Barbara Campbell

Kenneth Williams was the final inmate executed as the state sped up its schedule to beat the expiration date of its lethal-injection drugs.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson prepares for an interview at the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock, Ark., on April 13. The governor met with reporters to discuss the state's schedule of executions. So far, one of the executions has been carried out, four hav

National

Arkansas Executes Two Inmates, The First Double Execution In U.S. Since 2000

11:43pm April 24, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

Arkansas had planned to kill eight death row inmates in 11 days before courts intervened in some of the cases. Officials wanted to move quickly before supplies of a key lethal injection drug expired.

This combination of undated photos provided by the Arkansas Department of Correction shows the death row inmates in question. Top row (from left): Jack Harold Jones Jr., Marcel Williams, Stacey E. Johnson, Ledell Lee. Bottom row (from left): Jason F. McGe

National

Courts Block 7 Executions Set For 11-Day Span In Arkansas

8:18pm April 14, 2017

A county judge and the state supreme court ordered the state not to put the inmates to death. The larger case challenges lethal drugs. The other argues that the inmate is not sane.