Supreme Court Declares Lethal Injection Constitutional

The Supreme Court released its decision in Baze vs. Rees yesterday and, to make a long story short, declared lethal injection, as practiced in the state of Kentucky, constitutional.

Apparently the court’s decision was extremely narrow addressing only the questions raised with regard to the Kentucky procedure. Basically the court ruled that the petitioners failed to make their case.

Predictable the decision has re-opened the flood in states with a history of execution activity including Texas, Virginia and Oklahoma. Other states, such as Ohio and Arkansas, seem to taking a more measured approach and say they want to study the Supreme Court’s decision more closely.

The vote was 7-2 so even some justices with reservations about the death penalty in general concurred with the majority opinion.

So, there was no magic wand this time around. A conservative court, with a bent toward narrow interpretations, came up with about the most narrowly focused decision it could. Folks are saying that the decision gives states a roadmap for setting up legal execution procedures. Perhaps, but it also provides some clues as to how one might go about toppling the death penalty.