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The State had planned to execute eight inmates over 10 days starting April 17, but four of the men have received stays for various reasons. Before Lee's death, all executions were put on hold in the state after a judge issued a restraining order on a key lethal injection drug.
Former art director Steve Parke can still recall the moment he found out that the Purple Rain star had died at his Minnesota home on April 21 a year ago at the age of 57. From his iconic home at Paisley Park to his home away from home at First Avenue, Prince's fans have traveled from all over the world to view his home through his eyes. Many Twin Cities landmarks will be lit in purple on this, the 21st day of April, also known as "Prince Day" in Minnesota.
About 10 minutes into the first case, the new justice opened his mouth and asked his first question , which was both thoughtful and lengthy. The justices turned to that question a few minutes after taking the bench at approximately 10 a.m. this morning.
The former Weather Underground radical drov... Hawaii lawmakers have killed a bill that sought equal access to fertility treatments for gay and lesbian couples and single women. Hawaii lawmakers have killed a bill that sought equal access to fertility treatments for gay and lesbian couples and single women.
A run of legal defeats over its voting laws means Texas could risk becoming the first state forced back into federal oversight since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down key parts of the Voting Rights Act four years ago. The justices' 2013 ruling struck down a provision in the 1965 law that required Texas and other states with troubled histories of racial discrimination to "pre-clear" any voting law changes with the federal government before enacting them.
Arkansas executed its first inmate in 12 years on Thursday after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the inmate's request to halt the lethal injection in a late-night ruling. Ledell Lee, 51, was the first to be put to death out of a group of eight men that Arkansas originally planned to execute within a span of 11 days, before the expiration of one of the drugs the state uses for the lethal injection.
But now a federal judge has said a phalanx of lawyers from Boston's Goodwin firm and their partners from the ACLU of Massachusetts got a bit aggressive themselves in asking for the legal fees they were entitled to under the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Award Act after prevailing in Thayer, et al. v. City of Worcester.
Arkansas was able to conduct its first execution in nearly a dozen years despite a flurry of legal challenges that had spared three convicted killers, but courts still could scuttle the remainder the nation's most ambitious death penalty schedule since capital punishment was restored in 1976. Ledell Lee was pronounced dead at 11:56 p.m. Thursday, four minutes before his death warrant was due to expire at midnight, capping a chaotic week of legal wrangling.
Arkansas has executed an inmate for the first time in nearly a dozen years as part of its plan to execute several inmates before a drug expires April 30, despite court rulings that have already spared three men. Ledell Lee's execution was the first in the state since 2005.
A Republican-drawn map setting the boundaries of Texas' statehouse districts violates the U.S. Constitution by intentionally discriminating against minority voters, a federal court found Thursday - the third such ruling against the state's voting laws in roughly a month. The latest ruling means Texas' strict voter ID law, congressional maps and state legislative maps - all of which were enacted in 2011 - have recently been found in violation of the federal Voting Rights Act.
In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.
In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.
President Donald Trump, left, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, center, and Justice Neil Gorsuch participate in a public swearing-in ceremony for Gorsuch in the Rose Garden of the White House White House in Washington, Monday, April 10, 2017. U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, , told an Iowa newspaper that he expects a Supreme Court justice will resign this year, opening up a seat that President Donald Trump will be able to nominate someone to fill.
Sandra Day O'Connor on this year's 'Time 100' First woman Supreme Court justice, an El Paso native, makes Time magazine's list of 100 most influential people. Check out this story on ElPasoTimes.com: President Trump, James Corden and Simone Biles are just a few of the names that made it on their annual list.
The legal fight in Arkansas , which last put someone to death 12 years ago, came after the number of USA executions fell to a quarter-century low in 2016. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that judge, stating in its opinion that there's only "equivocal evidence" that midazolam will raise the risk of a painful execution.
Democratic Party loyalists are always complaining about the big-money fat cats behind the Republican Party's candidates and platform. Over the last few election cycles, the Democratic Party has lost most state legislatures, governorships, the US Senate, the US House of Representatives and the White House.
I've never beheld such a powerful official hankering to kill and kill now as was evident Monday night in the political leadership of Arkansas. The state had weathered a wild flurry of late-afternoon court decisions that shook out this way: Instead of killing seven death row inmates in 11 days starting Monday night, the state would be allowed to kill five death row inmates over a week starting Thursday night.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared ready to break down at least part of the longstanding church-state barrier that has prevented religious schools from receiving public funds. The justices gave a skeptical hearing to a Missouri lawyer who was defending the state's decision to reject a grant request from a Lutheran preschool seeking to participate in a state program that provides money to schools to rubberize the surface of their playgrounds.
One political truism has become all too apparent in recent years: Those among us who most loudly claim to cherish and respect the U.S. Constitution often happen to be the most eager to gut and redraft key passages of it. Latest evidence: Republican state Sen. Brian Birdwell, who has pushed hard this legislative session for an Article V Convention of States to rewrite offending parts of the Constitution - a dangerous idea for all real patriots who love this republic and understand its intricate framework for governance.
In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.