Florida has set an exe­cu­tion date of Septmeber 6 for Manuel Valle (pic­tured), a for­eign nation­al from Cuba who was deprived of his rights under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. The European Union​’s ambas­sador to the U.S. has asked Florida to halt the exe­cu­tion, and Florida’s Catholic Bishops have also request­ed clemen­cy for Valle, say­ing, ​“Killing some­one because they killed dimin­ish­es respect for life and pro­motes a cul­ture of vio­lence and vengeance.” The state plans to intro­duce the anes­thet­ic pen­to­bar­bi­tal for this exe­cu­tion, despite the fact that the man­u­fac­tur­er of the drug, Lundbeck, Inc., has asked Florida to refrain from such use, say­ing it ​“con­tra­dicts every­thing we are in busi­ness to do.” Valle has been on death row for about 33 years, rais­ing oth­er ques­tions about cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment in his case. In anoth­er case, a fed­er­al judge has found Florida’s statute to be uncon­sti­tu­tion­al. If that rul­ing is upheld on appeal, it could affect Valle’s case as well, but only if he is still alive. UPDATE: Valle’s exe­cu­tion has been stayed at least until Sept. 8 by a fed­er­al court to con­sid­er whether he was denied a clemen­cy hear­ing. UPDATE: Stay of exe­cu­tion lift­ed; may pro­ceed on Sept. 8.

(D. Kam, ​“Florida Supremes approve death drug,” Palm Beach Post, 8/​23/​11; P. McGuffin, ​“MPs’ call to stop exe­cu­tion,” Morning Star, 8/​26/​11.) See also Foreign Nationals and Lethal Injection.

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