Challenges to the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of North Carolina’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures have put exe­cu­tions on hold, and it appears they will remain that way for the fore­see­able future. Though some law­mak­ers are push­ing for a leg­isla­tive ​“fix” to ques­tions raised about the pro­ce­dures, Governor Mike Easley and Democratic law­mak­ers — who con­trol the leg­is­la­ture — have no plans to end the exe­cu­tion stand­still pri­or to clear court action. ​“The leg­is­la­ture isn’t going to be able to move in any direc­tion, real­ly, until it gets some final rul­ing from the fed­er­al and state courts,” Easley said. It may be years before a defin­i­tive rul­ing comes down from an appeals court.

North Carolina, which has 166 peo­ple on death row, is one of 11 states where the death penal­ty has been halt­ed because of ques­tions about the drugs and pro­to­cols used in lethal injec­tions. Those chal­leng­ing the pro­ce­dure say it may be in vio­la­tion of the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment if the inmates are not ful­ly sedat­ed before being inject­ed with par­a­lyz­ing and heart-stop­ping drugs. Last year, a fed­er­al judge allowed two exe­cu­tions to pro­ceed in North Carolina on the con­di­tion that a doc­tor mon­i­tor an inmate’s con­scious­ness on a brain-wave machine. In January, the North Carolina Medical Board passed a new ethics pol­i­cy pro­hibit­ing doc­tors from doing any­thing to assist with an exe­cu­tion. Prison offi­cials say they have since changed their pro­ce­dures to accom­mo­date the new med­ical board pol­i­cy, but a judge ruled that they need­ed approval from Easley and a pan­el of top state elect­ed lead­ers before they could pro­ceed with exe­cu­tions. Though the Governor and the Council of State gave approval to the changes, lit­i­ga­tion con­tin­ues to make its way through the courts and exe­cu­tions remain on hold. Prison offi­cials are suing the North Carolina med­ical board, four peo­ple on death row have law­suits chal­leng­ing the state’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dures, and two oth­ers on death row are chal­leng­ing the Council of State’s approval of the new exe­cu­tion pro­to­cols devel­oped by prison offi­cials because the changes were approved with­out pub­lic com­ment.

When asked when the state might resume exe­cu­tions, cap­i­tal defense attor­ney Mark Kleinschmidt not­ed, ​“We just can’t know until these threads of lit­iga­tive action play out.” Both North Carolina House Speaker Joe Hackney and Senate leader Marc Basnight agree that state law­mak­ers should wait for the courts to weigh in before the leg­is­la­ture address­es the issue.
(News & Observer, April 6, 2007). See Lethal Injection.

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