Sixth Circuit Stays Tennessee Execution:   In an eleventh-hour ruling, a divided panel of the federal Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed today's execution of double-murderer Edmund Zagorski.  Adam Tamburin of the Tennessean reports that yesterday's ruling came after a federal district judge denied Zagorski's request for delay to allow a review of his ineffective assistance of counsel claim.  The appeals court determined that the claim needed further review.  Earlier this week, Zagorski's request to be executed in the electric chair rather than by lethal injection was denied because he missed the required deadline to make it.  Zagorski was convicted on strong evidence of leading two men into the Tennessee woods in 1983 to sell them drugs.  He instead slit their throats and stole their money and pickup truck.  The U.S. Supreme Court could decide to lift the stay.   Update: The Supreme Court lifted the stay, Justices Breyer and Sotomayor dissenting. Governor Haslam granted a reprieve to accommodate Zagorski's request for the electric chair. The Tennessean reports on the twists and turns.

WA High Court Strikes Down Death Penalty:  In a unanimous opinion announced today, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the state's death penalty violates the state constitution.  Pete Williams of NBC News reports on the court's holding that the death penalty is applied unequally and does not serve "any legitimate penological goal."  The ruling comes four years after the state's governor imposed a moratorium on executions.  The ruling overturned the death sentence of Allen Eugene Gregory for the brutal 1996 rape, robbery and murder of a Tacoma waitress.  Gregory's guilt was not disputed by the court.  The ruling converts the death sentences of the state's previously condemned murderers to life.   A well researched piece by Jerome Woehrle breaks down the fallacies of the court's conclusions.