Death Penalty Update

Two big events have occurred recently on the Death Penalty scene.

First, a U.S. District Court judge in Tennessee last week declared the method of lethal injection used in Tennessee to be unconstitutional. Second, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case from Kentucky which claims that lethal injection is Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

Despite the right wing character of the current court, there is some cause for optimism as the court has made it easier for inmates to contest lethal injection. I guess we shall see what we shall see.

To date there have been 41 executions in the United States this year, 25 of which have been in the state of Texas. There are another 12 scheduled through the end of the year including 4 in Texas. If all the executions go forward, that would bring the total for 2007 to 53, the same number as in 2006 but less than the 60 in 2005.

In the meantime, back in the execution capital we call Texas; the trial judge in the Cathy Henderson case apparently hasn’t made a decision yet about a new trial. Henderson is the baby sitter convicted of murder, and sentenced to die, in the death of 3-month old Brandon Baugh. Henderson claims that the death was an accident. She says that she was swinging the baby around in an attempt to soothe the infant, lost her balance and Brandon flew from her arms. Ok, so she’s an idiot. That doesn’t mean she deserves a lethal injection. That fact that Henderson fled after the tragedy probably didn’t help her case any either.

The coroner that had originally testified that the baby’s injuries were inconsistent with Henderson’s story now says that new scientific methods and information leads him to believe that it’s impossible to be certain one way or the other.

Sounds like enough for a new trial to me, does it sound like it to you too? Henderson has been on death row for 12 years. If it turns out that she was wrongly convicted, does she get those 12 years back?