Apr 16 2008
North Carolina Should End Death Penalty Moratorium
RALEIGH (AP)- The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to approve a widely used method of lethal injection may not be enough to bring an immediate end to North Carolina’s unofficial moratorium on the death penalty.
Issued Wednesday, the ruling from the nation’s high court signed off on the procedures used in Kentucky, where three drugs are used to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates. Similar methods are used by roughly three dozen states, including North Carolina.
But neither of the lingering legal challenges to North Carolina’s death penalty _ which have effectively kept execution on hold for more than year _ are addressed directly addressed by Wednesday’s ruling.
A spokeswoman for State Attorney General Roy Cooper said attorneys are studying the Supreme Court ruling and trying to determine how it may affect North Carolina.
“We’ve got attorneys who are studying the ruling and are trying to determine how it may impact North Carolina,” said Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Roy Cooper.
This is a cop out on Cooper and Easley’s part. There is absolutely no reason not to reinstate executions in this state. The Supreme Court was clear on their ruling, so what “impact” has to be studied? The Democratic Party in particular has for years been fidgety with the death penalty and that’s all this is. They really don’t want to reinstate it. I have never understood this sympathy that so many of them have for murderers.
