Will Clarence Hill get another SCOTUS ex machina?
I am not betting that the Supreme Court will intervene again to keep the state of Florida from executing Clarence Hill based on his Eighth Amendment claims against Florida’s lethal injection protocols. But, I would not have expected the first stay that SCOTUS issues back in January, which came after Hill was already strapped to a gurney with IV lines ready to start his execution. After the Eleventh Circuit’s (bloodless?) dismissal of Hill’s 1983 action late last week (details here), I have no prediction about whether the Justices will care this time around. SCOTUSblog has some of the details here surrounding Hill’s application for a stay of his scheduled execution.
Some recent related posts:
- My lethal injection piece on SSRN
- Missouri still struggling with its execution protocol
- My take on the other side of Hill
UPDATE: The New York Times has this piece entitled “States Await Ruling on Use of Lethal Injection,” which updates developments in Florida and other states on these issues.
Meanwhile in Maryland, as this article details, “Lawyers for death row inmate Vernon L. Evans Jr. expect to bring into federal court this week the men and women who have participated in Maryland’s previous executions to ask them what they did and how they were trained and to inquire about any past problems with the lethal injection procedures that the convicted killer is challenging.”