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Everyone trying to figure out if there is now an execution moratorium

By Douglas Berman

Not surprisingly, the media is as unsure as I am about whether Supreme Court’s blocking of a Texas lethal injection Thursday (details here) means the Justices will prevent all lethal injection executions while the Baze case is pending.  (Notably, in this Jurist forum piece, Alison Nathan suggests that Baze should lead to a “Pausing the Machinery of Death.”)  Consider these dueling headlines from major media coverage:

  • From the Dallas Morning News we get “Irving killer’s reprieve may slow executions nationwide: But legal experts don’t expect moratorium as lethal injection reviewed.”
  • From the Houston Chronicle we get “Texas executions probably on hold until next year: State awaits High Court ruling on lethal injection”
  • From the New York Times we get “Texas Planning New Execution Despite Ruling”
  • From Reuters we get “”U.S. executions seen on hold as method challenged”

I am grateful to the NYTimes for citing this post speculating that we will see few if any executions over the next 9 to 18 months. 

Also, with one reporter, I suggested that the broadest impact from the Baze case may be the creation of a “molasses moment” in the administration of the death penalty throughout the United States.  In addition to stalling executions, the Baze case might lead prosecutors and judges nationwide to stop spending less time on capital cases and more time on other matters.

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