New SSRN Paper Discussing Lethal Injection in Courts:  At Sentencing Law and Policy, Doug Berman provides the link to the paper "Lethal Injection and the Problem of Constitutional Remedies"by Professor Eric Berger.  Berger is an Assistant Professor at Law, at the University of Nebraska College of Law.  In his article Berger argues that remedial concerns, aimed at fixing potentially painful lethal injection procedures, significantly misdirect courts' approaches to lethal injection.  He believes that courts fear that any lethal injection remedy would unduly burden the state and interfere with executions.  Berman comments that he is "repeatedly and consistently impressed with the extent of the 'real engagement with the merits' of what always seem to be very weak evidentiary claims based on limited medical evidence and a few anecdotes." Berman expresses frustration that, contrary to Berger's claim, capital defendants frequently have their Eighth Amendment claims addressed on the merits, while "a broad array of Eighth Amendment claims brought by non-capital defendants -- whether involving extreme sentences or extreme prison conditions -- rarely seem to get serious consideration by courts..."