"I've never beheld such a powerful official hankering to kill and kill now as was evident Monday night in the political leadership of Arkansas," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett wrote Tuesday. (Photo: javacolleen/cc/flickr)
Apr 18, 2017
Despite state leaders' "hankering to kill," the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday refused to allow the state to proceed with its scheduled execution, dealing yet another legal blow to the government's planned spree.
"The nation's highest court took several hours to reach its decision, finally announcing at 11:50pm [local time] that it had declined to lift a stay on the execution of Don Davis, 54, imposed earlier in the day by the supreme court of Arkansas," the Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported.
The other inmate, Bruce Ward, who was also scheduled to be executed on Monday, did not have his stay challenged by Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge, who reportedly kept a staff working around the clock Easter weekend to "dismantle the roadblocks," as NBC Newsput it, hindering the plan to kill eight people in 11 days.
Davis, said to be intellectually disabled, now joins Ward and inmate Jason McGehee, whose death sentence was also recently blocked by a federal judge. The "execution assembly line" was planned by Republican governor Asa Hutchinson to fast-track state killings before the end-of-the-month expiration date on the state's supply of midazolam. The sedative has a grisly record when combined with other drugs for a lethal injection "cocktail," which a federal judge over the weekend said threatens inmates' constitutional rights.
"I've never beheld such a powerful official hankering to kill and kill now as was evident Monday night in the political leadership of Arkansas," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett wrote Tuesday in a powerful op-ed skewering Hutchinson and Rutledge.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling "is certain to embolden the defense lawyers of the remaining five death-row inmates who still face the gurney, starting with Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee on Thursday," Pilkington observed.
Indeed, even before the Supreme Court reached its decision on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a stay for Lee, who they say has had "horrible legal counsel," in addition to being intellectually disabled. Further, the group argues that DNA samples recovered from the crime scene were never properly tested.
Leading anti-death penalty voice Sister Helen Prejean, who authored the book Dead Man Walking (and was later portrayed in the 1995 film by the same name), has been encouraging other opponents of state killings to "keep up the pressure" on Hutchinson and Rutledge--including people around the nation and world.
\u201cLife won last night, but @AsaHutchinson and @AGRutledge still want to kill 5 more people. Keep calling, keep tweeting, keep the pressure on!\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518693
\u201cStop the Arkansas killing spree! Call as many times as you can today:\n\nGov. @AsaHutchinson - (501) 682-2345\n@AGRutledge - (501) 682-2007\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518524
\u201cLet's show @AsaHutchinson that people all over the U.S. and the world are watching. Reply to this tweet with your location and I'll retweet.\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492458016
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Despite state leaders' "hankering to kill," the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday refused to allow the state to proceed with its scheduled execution, dealing yet another legal blow to the government's planned spree.
"The nation's highest court took several hours to reach its decision, finally announcing at 11:50pm [local time] that it had declined to lift a stay on the execution of Don Davis, 54, imposed earlier in the day by the supreme court of Arkansas," the Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported.
The other inmate, Bruce Ward, who was also scheduled to be executed on Monday, did not have his stay challenged by Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge, who reportedly kept a staff working around the clock Easter weekend to "dismantle the roadblocks," as NBC Newsput it, hindering the plan to kill eight people in 11 days.
Davis, said to be intellectually disabled, now joins Ward and inmate Jason McGehee, whose death sentence was also recently blocked by a federal judge. The "execution assembly line" was planned by Republican governor Asa Hutchinson to fast-track state killings before the end-of-the-month expiration date on the state's supply of midazolam. The sedative has a grisly record when combined with other drugs for a lethal injection "cocktail," which a federal judge over the weekend said threatens inmates' constitutional rights.
"I've never beheld such a powerful official hankering to kill and kill now as was evident Monday night in the political leadership of Arkansas," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett wrote Tuesday in a powerful op-ed skewering Hutchinson and Rutledge.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling "is certain to embolden the defense lawyers of the remaining five death-row inmates who still face the gurney, starting with Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee on Thursday," Pilkington observed.
Indeed, even before the Supreme Court reached its decision on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a stay for Lee, who they say has had "horrible legal counsel," in addition to being intellectually disabled. Further, the group argues that DNA samples recovered from the crime scene were never properly tested.
Leading anti-death penalty voice Sister Helen Prejean, who authored the book Dead Man Walking (and was later portrayed in the 1995 film by the same name), has been encouraging other opponents of state killings to "keep up the pressure" on Hutchinson and Rutledge--including people around the nation and world.
\u201cLife won last night, but @AsaHutchinson and @AGRutledge still want to kill 5 more people. Keep calling, keep tweeting, keep the pressure on!\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518693
\u201cStop the Arkansas killing spree! Call as many times as you can today:\n\nGov. @AsaHutchinson - (501) 682-2345\n@AGRutledge - (501) 682-2007\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518524
\u201cLet's show @AsaHutchinson that people all over the U.S. and the world are watching. Reply to this tweet with your location and I'll retweet.\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492458016
Lauren McCauley
Lauren McCauley is a former senior editor for Common Dreams covering national and international politics and progressive news. She is now the Editor of Maine Morning Star. Lauren also helped produce a number of documentary films, including the award-winning Soundtrack for a Revolution and The Hollywood Complex, as well as one currently in production about civil rights icon James Meredith. Her writing has been featured on Newsweek, BillMoyers.com, TruthDig, Truthout, In These Times, and Extra! the newsletter of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. She currently lives in Kennebunk, Maine with her husband, two children, a dog, and several chickens.
Despite state leaders' "hankering to kill," the U.S. Supreme Court late Monday refused to allow the state to proceed with its scheduled execution, dealing yet another legal blow to the government's planned spree.
"The nation's highest court took several hours to reach its decision, finally announcing at 11:50pm [local time] that it had declined to lift a stay on the execution of Don Davis, 54, imposed earlier in the day by the supreme court of Arkansas," the Guardian's Ed Pilkington reported.
The other inmate, Bruce Ward, who was also scheduled to be executed on Monday, did not have his stay challenged by Arkansas attorney general Leslie Rutledge, who reportedly kept a staff working around the clock Easter weekend to "dismantle the roadblocks," as NBC Newsput it, hindering the plan to kill eight people in 11 days.
Davis, said to be intellectually disabled, now joins Ward and inmate Jason McGehee, whose death sentence was also recently blocked by a federal judge. The "execution assembly line" was planned by Republican governor Asa Hutchinson to fast-track state killings before the end-of-the-month expiration date on the state's supply of midazolam. The sedative has a grisly record when combined with other drugs for a lethal injection "cocktail," which a federal judge over the weekend said threatens inmates' constitutional rights.
"I've never beheld such a powerful official hankering to kill and kill now as was evident Monday night in the political leadership of Arkansas," Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist John Brummett wrote Tuesday in a powerful op-ed skewering Hutchinson and Rutledge.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling "is certain to embolden the defense lawyers of the remaining five death-row inmates who still face the gurney, starting with Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee on Thursday," Pilkington observed.
Indeed, even before the Supreme Court reached its decision on Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a stay for Lee, who they say has had "horrible legal counsel," in addition to being intellectually disabled. Further, the group argues that DNA samples recovered from the crime scene were never properly tested.
Leading anti-death penalty voice Sister Helen Prejean, who authored the book Dead Man Walking (and was later portrayed in the 1995 film by the same name), has been encouraging other opponents of state killings to "keep up the pressure" on Hutchinson and Rutledge--including people around the nation and world.
\u201cLife won last night, but @AsaHutchinson and @AGRutledge still want to kill 5 more people. Keep calling, keep tweeting, keep the pressure on!\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518693
\u201cStop the Arkansas killing spree! Call as many times as you can today:\n\nGov. @AsaHutchinson - (501) 682-2345\n@AGRutledge - (501) 682-2007\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492518524
\u201cLet's show @AsaHutchinson that people all over the U.S. and the world are watching. Reply to this tweet with your location and I'll retweet.\u201d— Sister Helen Prejean (@Sister Helen Prejean) 1492458016
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.