SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Texas death-row inmate Cleve Foster, whose execution has been put on hold by the US supreme court. (Photograph: Ron Ennis/AP)
Supreme Court Stays Texas Execution
First execution of death-row inmate in Texas using pentobarbital drug put on hold after court agrees to reconsider earlier order
Apr 05, 2011
The US supreme court has stayed the first scheduled execution of a Texas death-row inmate using pentobarbital.
Cleve Foster was to have been executed on Tuesday evening for the 2002 murder of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth - the first Texas execution since the state switched to pentobarbital in its lethal three-drug mixture.
On Tuesday morning, the court agreed to reconsider its earlier order denying Foster's appeal that had raised claims of innocence and poor legal help during his trial and the early stages of his appeals.
Foster's lawyers have argued that Texas prison officials violated administrative procedures last month when they announced the switch to pentobarbital from sodium thiopental, which is in short supply nationwide. They contend that the rule change required more time for public comment and review.
Lower courts have rejected their appeals and they had planned to take their case to the Texas supreme court. At the same time, they sought a rehearing before the US supreme court over its rejection of an appeal in January. The court had stopped Foster's then-scheduled execution, but its rejection of his claims a week later cleared the way for Tarrant county authorities to schedule the execution for Tuesday.
In its brief ruling, the court gave prosecutors 30 days to respond to the defence petition, after which the supreme court will decide if the appeal has merit.
The issue over the execution drug was not before the court and the order on Tuesday did not mention it.
The drug swap is the most significant change in the execution procedure in Texas since the state switched from the electric chair to lethal injection when it reinstated capital punishment in 1982. Pentobarbital is a sedative used in surgery and to euthanise animals, and has already been used for executions in Oklahoma and Ohio.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
The US supreme court has stayed the first scheduled execution of a Texas death-row inmate using pentobarbital.
Cleve Foster was to have been executed on Tuesday evening for the 2002 murder of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth - the first Texas execution since the state switched to pentobarbital in its lethal three-drug mixture.
On Tuesday morning, the court agreed to reconsider its earlier order denying Foster's appeal that had raised claims of innocence and poor legal help during his trial and the early stages of his appeals.
Foster's lawyers have argued that Texas prison officials violated administrative procedures last month when they announced the switch to pentobarbital from sodium thiopental, which is in short supply nationwide. They contend that the rule change required more time for public comment and review.
Lower courts have rejected their appeals and they had planned to take their case to the Texas supreme court. At the same time, they sought a rehearing before the US supreme court over its rejection of an appeal in January. The court had stopped Foster's then-scheduled execution, but its rejection of his claims a week later cleared the way for Tarrant county authorities to schedule the execution for Tuesday.
In its brief ruling, the court gave prosecutors 30 days to respond to the defence petition, after which the supreme court will decide if the appeal has merit.
The issue over the execution drug was not before the court and the order on Tuesday did not mention it.
The drug swap is the most significant change in the execution procedure in Texas since the state switched from the electric chair to lethal injection when it reinstated capital punishment in 1982. Pentobarbital is a sedative used in surgery and to euthanise animals, and has already been used for executions in Oklahoma and Ohio.
The US supreme court has stayed the first scheduled execution of a Texas death-row inmate using pentobarbital.
Cleve Foster was to have been executed on Tuesday evening for the 2002 murder of a Sudanese woman in Fort Worth - the first Texas execution since the state switched to pentobarbital in its lethal three-drug mixture.
On Tuesday morning, the court agreed to reconsider its earlier order denying Foster's appeal that had raised claims of innocence and poor legal help during his trial and the early stages of his appeals.
Foster's lawyers have argued that Texas prison officials violated administrative procedures last month when they announced the switch to pentobarbital from sodium thiopental, which is in short supply nationwide. They contend that the rule change required more time for public comment and review.
Lower courts have rejected their appeals and they had planned to take their case to the Texas supreme court. At the same time, they sought a rehearing before the US supreme court over its rejection of an appeal in January. The court had stopped Foster's then-scheduled execution, but its rejection of his claims a week later cleared the way for Tarrant county authorities to schedule the execution for Tuesday.
In its brief ruling, the court gave prosecutors 30 days to respond to the defence petition, after which the supreme court will decide if the appeal has merit.
The issue over the execution drug was not before the court and the order on Tuesday did not mention it.
The drug swap is the most significant change in the execution procedure in Texas since the state switched from the electric chair to lethal injection when it reinstated capital punishment in 1982. Pentobarbital is a sedative used in surgery and to euthanise animals, and has already been used for executions in Oklahoma and Ohio.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.