US justices query if lethal injections cause severe pain

US: Several US Supreme Court justices yesterday closely questioned state and US government lawyers about whether lethal injections…

US: Several US Supreme Court justices yesterday closely questioned state and US government lawyers about whether lethal injections as currently administered for executions cause excruciating pain.

"Your procedure would be prohibited if applied to dogs and cats," Justice John Paul Stevens told Florida assistant deputy attorney general Carolyn Snurkowski.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also asked whether the method currently used involved the risk of a death-row prisoner dying an excruciating death.

The arguments before the Supreme Court involved whether death-row inmates can bring a last-minute challenge to the lethal injection method under a federal civil rights law.

READ MORE

The case involved a Florida death-row inmate, Clarence Hill, who is challenging the three chemicals that would be used for his execution. The US constitution bars "cruel and unusual punishment".

There were 60 executions in the US last year. All but one of the states with the death penalty and the federal government use lethal injection. A ruling is expected by the end of June.