By Rose Carmen Goldberg* “Welcome to Groundhog Day,” as former Justice Scalia once said. The scene is familiar. This month, yet another pharmaceutical company has voiced opposition to use of its drugs in executions. In a public statement, pharmaceutical juggernaut Pfizer announced it will not supply drugs for lethal injections, and will enforce strict distribution restrictions to this end. Yet the scene is also different. Though many pharmaceutical companies have spoken out against the death …
The Supreme Court Vacancy and the End of Capital Punishment
By Isaac Saidel-Goley* Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing on February 13 has fundamentally altered the ideological composition of the Supreme Court. The Court has for decades consistently leaned Right and suddenly finds itself leaning Left. This shift in the composition of the Court provides a rare opportunity for abolitionists to successfully challenge the constitutionality of capital punishment. For decades, the death penalty has been a deeply divisive issue, both politically and …
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Guerrilla War Against the Eighth Amendment: The Supreme Court Battles Over Off-Label Drug Lethal Injections
By Rose Carmen Goldberg* A series of botched executions over the past several years has engendered increasing criticism of lethal injection. These high-profile miscarriages have involved prolonged visible suffering, including violent spasms and outcries about intolerable pain. Death row inmates are turning to courts for protection from painful deaths like these. Last month the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in its first lethal injection case since 2008, Glossip v. Gross. The challenge, …