Supreme Court affirms death-penalty drug

Mark Matassa • Feb 6, 2018

Feb 6, 2018

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                <h1>Supreme Court affirms death-penalty drug</h1>
                <h2><p>The Court ruled against death-row plaintiffs in three cases who argued that an execution drug, the sedative midazolam, causes undue pain and suffering. In the process of reaching Monday's 5-4 decision, reports The New York Times, the justices broke into a larger argument about the death penalty itself.</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/mmatassa-mac-com/">Mark Matassa</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Feb 6, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>The Court <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/30/us/supreme-court-execution-drug.html?hp=&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&ref=avalancheghost.one">ruled against death-row plaintiffs</a> in three cases who argued that an execution drug, the sedative midazolam, causes undue pain and suffering. In the process of reaching Monday's 5-4 decision, reports <em>The New York Times</em>, the justices broke into a larger argument about the death penalty itself. “Rather than try to patch up the death penalty’s legal wounds one at a time,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in dissent, “I would ask for full briefing on a more basic question: whether the death penalty violates the Constitution.”</p>
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The Court ruled against death-row plaintiffs in three cases who argued that an execution drug, the sedative midazolam, causes undue pain and suffering. In the process of reaching Monday's 5-4 decision, reports The New York Times, the justices broke into a larger argument about the death penalty itself. “Rather than try to patch up the death penalty’s legal wounds one at a time,” Justice Stephen Breyer wrote in dissent, “I would ask for full briefing on a more basic question: whether the death penalty violates the Constitution.”

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