South Dakota’s First Execution in 59 Years Stayed at 11^th Hour

Gov. Mike Rounds of South Dakota stayed the exe­cu­tion of Elijah Page on the day it was to be car­ried out because of con­cerns about the state’s lethal injec­tion process. The gov­er­nor said there was a con­flict between state law requir­ing the use of two drugs, and the antic­i­pat­ed prac­tice of using three drugs in the lethal injec­tion. Such a prac­tice could put state employ­ees at risk of vio­lat­ing the law. Page had waived his appeals, but oth­er inmates had raised chal­lenges to the prac­tice. (Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Aug. 29, 2006). This act appears to put all exe­cu­tions in the state on hold until at least July 1, 2007.

Page is the 13^th inmate this year to be giv­en a stay of exe­cu­tion last­ing beyond the sched­uled date. In the same time, 39 inmates have been exe­cut­ed, almost all by lethal injec­tion. Executions are effec­tive­ly on hold in California, Delaware, Missouri, New Jersey, and South Dakota because of chal­lenges to the lethal injec­tion process. See DPIC’s Lethal Injection page and Arbitrariness.