OH Execution Law Upheld: A Cincinnati appeals court dismissed challenges to an Ohio law Wednesday that shields the identities of individuals involved in the execution process as well as the pharmacies that manufacture lethal injection drugs. Jim Provance of the Toledo Blade reports that the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld a lower court's ruling which dismissed claims made by several death row inmates, who argued that being denied information regarding the execution process under House Bill 663 is harmful and violates their free-speech and public record rights. The appeals court determined that "[w]hile a deficient execution is a very serious matter, the existence of
deficiencies in this case is only conjectural or hypothetical and is
therefore not imminent for [legal standing] purposes." The state's last execution was of Dennis McGuire in January 2014, who was put to death using a two-drug process that caused him to make choking noises and struggle against his restraints for 26 minutes before he died, according to witnesses. After that, an informal moratorium on executions was put in place and is set to expire at the end of the year. Ohio's next scheduled execution is of Ronald R. Phillips on Jan. 12, who will be put to death using a three-drug process consisting of midazolam, recuronium bromide and potassium chloride.
Appeals Court Won't Stop AL Man's Execution: An appellate court affirmed a federal judge's ruling on Wednesday, refusing to stop the execution of an Alabama murderer scheduled to die Thursday evening. The AP reports that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, dismissed the latest legal challenge made by Tommy Arthur, who argued that the state's death penalty procedure is unconstitutional. Arthur, who has won reprieves on six prior occasions, claimed that a federal judge prematurely dismissed his lethal injection challenge when a U.S. Supreme Court requirement for inmates to offer an alternative execution method was misapplied. Arthur suggested a firing squad and another lethal injection drug, but the federal judge dismissed the challenge, ruling that Arthur had not identified a drug source and a firing squad is not a permissible method under state law. Arthur was convicted of the 1982 murder of Troy Wicker, whom Arthur shot as he slept in his home. Arthur was having and affair of Wicker's wife and killed her husband when she paid him $10,000. At the time of the murder, Arthur was in a prison-release program after being convicted of the 1977 murder of his sister-in-law.
Worst of the Worst Illegals Slipping Through the Cracks: The worst of the worst illegal immigrants are slipping through immigration loopholes, proving that President Obama's Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) is a complete failure. Jonathan Thompson and Leon Wilmot have this piece in the Washington Examiner, reporting that in 2013, over 36,000 illegal immigrants convicted of felonies were released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while their deportation proceedings were still pending. Among those immigrants were 193 convicted murderers, 426 kidnappers and 426 individuals convicted of felony sexual assault. Under the Obama administration's PEP, violent and dangerous illegal aliens scheduled for deportation are released from federal detention after serving their sentences without local law enforcement's knowledge. What's more, the executive branch has ordered ICE to stand down, tying the hands of federal agents on the ground. Thompson and Wilmot say that Americans of all stripes and political affiliations agree that there is a necessity to swiftly deport the worst of the worst criminals and should demand reform of the Priority Enforcement Program.
Appeals Court Won't Stop AL Man's Execution: An appellate court affirmed a federal judge's ruling on Wednesday, refusing to stop the execution of an Alabama murderer scheduled to die Thursday evening. The AP reports that the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split decision, dismissed the latest legal challenge made by Tommy Arthur, who argued that the state's death penalty procedure is unconstitutional. Arthur, who has won reprieves on six prior occasions, claimed that a federal judge prematurely dismissed his lethal injection challenge when a U.S. Supreme Court requirement for inmates to offer an alternative execution method was misapplied. Arthur suggested a firing squad and another lethal injection drug, but the federal judge dismissed the challenge, ruling that Arthur had not identified a drug source and a firing squad is not a permissible method under state law. Arthur was convicted of the 1982 murder of Troy Wicker, whom Arthur shot as he slept in his home. Arthur was having and affair of Wicker's wife and killed her husband when she paid him $10,000. At the time of the murder, Arthur was in a prison-release program after being convicted of the 1977 murder of his sister-in-law.
Worst of the Worst Illegals Slipping Through the Cracks: The worst of the worst illegal immigrants are slipping through immigration loopholes, proving that President Obama's Priority Enforcement Program (PEP) is a complete failure. Jonathan Thompson and Leon Wilmot have this piece in the Washington Examiner, reporting that in 2013, over 36,000 illegal immigrants convicted of felonies were released by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while their deportation proceedings were still pending. Among those immigrants were 193 convicted murderers, 426 kidnappers and 426 individuals convicted of felony sexual assault. Under the Obama administration's PEP, violent and dangerous illegal aliens scheduled for deportation are released from federal detention after serving their sentences without local law enforcement's knowledge. What's more, the executive branch has ordered ICE to stand down, tying the hands of federal agents on the ground. Thompson and Wilmot say that Americans of all stripes and political affiliations agree that there is a necessity to swiftly deport the worst of the worst criminals and should demand reform of the Priority Enforcement Program.
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