Death penalty drama in Connecticut

As previously detailed in this post, Connecticut is scheduled next month to have its first execution in the modern death penalty era, in part because condemned serial killer Michael Ross is forgoing his remaining appeals.  (It is quite common for a jurisdiction’s first execution to be “volunteer”  — the very first person executed after Furman was volunteer Gary Gilmore; here in Ohio, the first person executed was volunteer Wilford Berry; the federal death penalty got back in business with volunteer Timothy McVeigh.)

But there is still legal drama surrounding Ross’ execution because, as detailed in this Connecticut Post article, the state’s Public Defenders are trying to intercede to pursue appeals on Ross’ behalf.  (This is also a common development in “volunteer” cases.)  The Connecticut law blog Kirby’s Reports is doing an excellent job covering these developments with posts here and here.

In addition, as detailed in this Hartford Courant article, the European Union has now chimed in to ask Connecticut’s governor and parole board to delay or halt Ross’ execution.