Ohio Death Penalty Information

Orin Guidry, M.D., President of the American Society of Anesthesiologists has this "Message From the President" on the ASA website, entitled "Observations on Lethal Injection."  (Hat tip to CapDefenseWeekly)

Excerpts:

• ASA does not have a detailed position on anesthesiologist participation in lethal injection but the 2001 House of Delegates “Approved a recommendation that ASA support the American Medical Association’s position regarding physician nonparticipation in executions.” Opinions on Social Policy Issues are part of the AMA’s Code of Ethics. One of these, E-2.06, addresses capital punishment. It begins by saying, “An individual's opinion on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual. A physician, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life when there is hope of doing so, should not be a participant in a legally authorized execution.” It is very specific in defining what constitutes involvement in lethal injection by saying, “In the case where the method of execution is lethal injection, the following actions by the physician would also constitute physician participation in execution: selecting injection sites; starting intravenous lines as a port for a lethal injection device; prescribing, preparing, administering, or supervising injection drugs or their doses or types; inspecting, testing, or maintaining lethal injection devices; and consulting with or supervising lethal injection personnel.”

Clearly an anesthesiologist complying with the Missouri ruling – and despite this court’s position on ethical obligations - would be violating the AMA position which ASA has adopted. It is my belief that the court cannot modify physicians’ ethical principles to meet its needs.

• ...Lethal injection was not anesthesiology’s idea. American society decided to have capital punishment as part of our legal system and to carry it out with lethal injection. The fact that problems are surfacing is not our dilemma. The legal system has painted itself into this corner and it is not our obligation to get it out.

A list of July, 2006 Ohio death row birthdays is here (courtesy Dr. Carl Hyde).

The NCADP e-abolitionist for July, 2006 is here.

AP reports here that the Ohio Court of Claims has confirmed the $2.5 million award granted in April to former Ohio death row inmate Timothy Howard. (Earlier coverage here and here).

Ohio Public Radio has distributed two audio reports, here (0.48) and here (1:59), on Rocky Barton's attempts to end his appeals and be executed on July 12.  Both contain audio from the statehouse news correspondents pool interview done with Barton on Wednesday.

(Additional information on Rocky Barton here.)

A new Gallup Poll on the death penalty has been released to coincide with the 30th annivesary of the Gregg decision by the US Supreme Court.  The lastest numbers continue to show little change in overall support, but the slight majority preferring life imprisonment over death when offereded the two choices by Gallup also continues to hold.  Poll results are here.

Excerpt:

July 2nd marks the 30th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision Gregg v. Georgia, which effectively reinstated the death penalty in the United States. Four years earlier, the 1972 Furman v. Georgia decision struck down most state statutes on the death penalty, formalizing what had been a practical moratorium on executions in the country since 1968. A review of historical Gallup poll data shows that those developments had a noticeable impact on Americans' support for the death penalty. Today, roughly two in three Americans say they favor the death penalty for convicted murderers.

Linda Greenhouse has this article in the New York Times, entitled "Court Upholds Arizona Limits Imposed on Insanity Defense."  Mark Kaufman has this article in the Washington Post, entitled "Restriction of Insanity Defense Affirmed."  Warren Richey has this article in the Christian Science Monitor, entitled "Court upholds state's insanity-defense standards."

The NCADP execution alert for Rocky Barton is here.

(Additional information on Rocky Barton is here.)

Christian News Wire has this preview of tomorrow morning's press conference by participants in the 2006 Starvin' For Justice demo at the US Supreme Court commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of the Gregg decision (and also the 50th anniversary of the United Methodist Church's call to end the death penalty in the US).

In the other US Supreme Court ruling (besides Hamdan) today that will have some effect on death penalty cases, the Court ruled 6-3 in Clark v. Arizona to uphold Arizona's law regarding insanity defenses in criminal cases.  Jurist has this syllabus of Justice Souter's majority opinion, with links to the actual (78-page) ruling and concurring and dissenting opinions.  AP has this.

Earlier coverage of Clark case, including some earlier discussion of what some had hoped for from the case (i.e., establishing a constitutional right to an insanity defense), is here.