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Injection Decision

The Eighth Circuit opinion rejecting the lethal injection challenge on the merits is here. In a nutshell, having the IV insertions done by medically qualified personnel (not necessarily doctors) plus monitoring to insure the inmate is actually "under" before injecting the second and third chemicals is sufficient. Anesthesiologists are not needed because anybody can put a patient to sleep; the skill of anesthesiologists is in making sure they wake up, not a consideration here. Hopefully, this nearly nationwide suspension of justice for the worst murders will soon be behind us.

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