2. Supreme Court renews death-penalty debate

Some states signal an end to U.S. executions

WASHINGTON — Kent Sprouse is set to die Thursday by lethal injection, a method of execution botched so often lately that the Supreme Court will weigh in on its constitutionality this month. Sprouse, however, isn’t likely to get a reprieve because he’s imprisoned in Texas — by far the nation’s leader in lethal injections and a state that has managed to carry out a regular schedule of executions without mishap.

WASHINGTON Kent Sprouse is set to die Thursday by lethal injection, a method of execution botched so often lately that the Supreme Court will weigh in on its constitutionality this month.

Sprouse, however, isn’t likely to get a reprieve because he’s imprisoned in Texas — by far the nation’s leader in lethal injections and a state that has managed to carry out a regular schedule of executions without mishap.

The state recently snared a new supply of pentobarbital, the drug of choice for executioners in a country fast running out of humane ways to kill death row inmates. That should give Texas enough of the barbiturate to execute four men at its Huntsville state penitentiary this month, bringing its total to 526 lethal injections since it spearheaded the practice in 1982.

But other states can’t find pharmacies willing to supply drugs that can kill reliably, without the gasps and groans the Supreme Court has indicated may violate the Constitution’s protection against cruel and unusual punishment. In three weeks, the justices will consider a challenge from three death row inmates to Oklahoma’s lethal injection method, used by several other states. A ruling against the use of midazolam, a sedative lacking the knockout punch of pentobarbital, as part of a three-drug cocktail would further crimp the country’s ability to execute prisoners.

Even if the court does not rule against Oklahoma, other developments point to the fading of the death penalty in America:

Several states have imposed moratoriums on lethal injections because of problems, ranging from botched executions in Oklahoma and Ohio to a “cloudy” drug concoction in Georgia. Last month, both the American Pharmacists Association and the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacies discouraged members from participating in the process. The U.S. group called it “fundamentally contrary to the role of pharmacists as providers of health care.”

The difficulties involved in lethal injections are forcing states with capital punishment laws to rejuvenate backup methods once viewed as beyond the pale. Tennessee would allow electrocution; Utah, death by firing squad. Oklahoma lawmakers are moving to legalize the use of nitrogen gas.

“The lethal injection issues are coming at a critical juncture,” says Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.

“The lethal injection issues are coming at a critical juncture.” Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center