Oklahoma lethal injection drug faces Supreme Court test this week

Source: Reuters

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to hear arguments this week on whether a drug used in Oklahoma’s lethal injection mix should be banned in a case that comes as a shortage of execution chemicals has sent some states scrambling for alternatives.

The main question before the nine justices in the case brought by three death row inmates that will be heard on Wednesday is whether the use of the sedative midazolam violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The case does not address the constitutionality of the death penalty in general, but brings fresh attention to the debate over whether executions should continue in the United States.

Opponents say midazolam is not approved for use in painful surgeries and should not be used in the death chamber because it cannot maintain a coma-like unconsciousness, potentially leaving inmates in intense pain from lethal injection drugs that halt breathing and stop the heart.

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Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/04/oklahoma-lethal-injection-drug-faces-supreme-court-test-this-week/