Published: April 04, 2019
This week’s decision to deny a prisoner’s appeal belies the fact that states are moving to abolish or restrict the death penalty
When does the execution of a prisoner cross a line and become “cruel and unusual”? In the strange world of the US death penalty, that is an all-important legal question. The US constitution prohibits “cruel and unusual” punishments, but condemned prisoners seeking relief have to prove their executions meet this definition, as opposed to just being “painful”.
This week the US supreme court handed down a ruling that sought to clarify what manner of execution would meet constitutional standards of cruelty and unusualness. The court’s answer? Disembowelling.
Continue reading...from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2CY1J35
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