Supreme Court Halts Va. Execution

Death Penalty

Posted Oct 17, 2007, 06:43 pm CST
By Martha Neil

Only a few hours before Christopher Scott Emmett was scheduled to die tonight in Virginia by lethal injection, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously halted the planned execution.

The move appears to signal a growing concern that problems with the constitutionality of lethal injections may need to be addressed before further executions using the method can take place, according to the Washington Post. "Executions by lethal injection have now been delayed in at least six states, including three in which the high court granted or upheld the stay," the newspaper writes.

Opponents contend that lethal injections are unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a Kentucky appeal on this issue, as previous ABAJournal.com posts discuss.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court refused to hear Emmett's certiorari petition, which claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, as discussed in another ABAJournal.com post. Two dissenting justices at that time criticized the state for initially setting an execution date that would have put Emmett before the court had a chance to review his appeal. (Virginia's governor later delayed his execution to allow time for Supreme Court review.)

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