The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled 4 – 3 that physi­cians can­not be pun­ished by the State Medical Board for tak­ing part in exe­cu­tions. The Medical Board had adopt­ed a pol­i­cy in January 2007 that their physi­cian’s code of ethics would be vio­lat­ed by a doc­tor tak­ing part in an exe­cu­tion, sub­ject­ing prac­ti­tion­ers to hav­ing his or her med­ical license revoked. This pol­i­cy con­flict­ed with the state law that requires a physician’s pres­ence at all exe­cu­tions, effec­tive­ly putting North Carolina’s exe­cu­tions on hold. Writing for the major­i­ty, Justice Edward Thomas Brady wrote, “[The Medical Board’s] posi­tion state­ment exceeds its author­i­ty … because the state­ment direct­ly con­tra­venes the spe­cif­ic require­ment of physi­cian pres­ence.” In the dis­sent­ing opin­ion, Justice Robin Hudson wrote, ​“The posi­tion state­ment is a valid exer­cise of [the Medical Board’s] statu­to­ry author­i­ty. Any change in that author­i­ty – which is the prac­ti­cal effect of the major­i­ty opin­ion – is a mat­ter for the General Assembly which grant­ed it, not for the courts.” The med­ical board did not object to doc­tors’ pres­ence at exe­cu­tions, only to their par­tic­i­pa­tion through the mon­i­tor­ing of the con­demned inmate’s vital functions.

Executions are still on hold in North Carolina due to a law­suit from death row inmates over the exe­cu­tion pro­to­col approved by the Council of State. There are 163 inmates on death row in the state, which has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since August 2006.

(M. Burns, ​“Court: Physicians must take part in exe­cu­tions,” WRAL TV, May 1, 2009). See Lethal Injection.

Citation Guide