Supreme Court issued death sentence opinion today

The Supreme Court issued an opinion today on Brown vs. Vail – over whether using a three-drug cocktail constituted “cruel and unusual” punishment. The decision: Since Washington has already moved from a three-drug cocktail to a one-drug system in March, the Department of Corrections argued that the constitutional challenge was “moot.” The court agreed.

That means Brown — Cal Coburn Brown, who was convicted of kidnapping a woman at knifepoint in 1991, then sexually assaulting and torturing her for 36 hours before killing her — can be put to death. Brown was joined in the lawsuit by two other convicted killers.

Brown’s execution date is set for Sept. 10 — though further legal challenges could cause delays.

In the unanimous opinion written by Justice Debra Stephens, the court wrote: “It is the policy of the State of Washington to execute inmates condemned to death by use of lethal injection, now under a one-drug protocol. The legislature properly delegated authority to the Department to develop and implement the death penalty protocol. And we decline to issue a declaratory judgment invalidating the Department’s use of the substances involved in lethal injection on the basis of state and federal controlled substances acts. As a result of the Department’s adoption of a one-drug lethal injection protocol instead of three-drug protocol on March 8, 2010, the Appellants’ constitutional challenge to the protocol is moot.”

Tags: death penalty, supreme court