Last month, as you many recall, the Supreme Court voted against banning the current three-drug cocktail used in lethal injections. Justice John Paul Stevens had voted with the majority.
But then the horse Eight Belles was euthanized after breaking two ankles at the Kentucky Derby. As the Associated Press reports, "Stevens told an audience of judges and lawyers that he checked into the procedure used to kill Eight Belles and was surprised to learn it is against the law in Kentucky to kill animals using one of the drugs in a three-drug lethal injection cocktail that many states, including Kentucky, use to execute prisoners."
I am suprised that Justice Stevens was surprised, considering that a group of veterinarians had filed a brief in that Supreme Court case asserting that the three-drug cocktail amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. (In fact, that three-drug cocktail does not meet the minimum standards for veterinary euthanasia in most states.)
Nevertheless, it is good that he is now using his newfound wisdom on the subject to speak out publicly against the lethal injection method and against the death penalty in general. Every small step in favor of human rights is a positive step forward for society in general.
Since I don't expect to see more such epiphanies in the high court, let's hope that the next few justices are appointed by a Democratic president rather than a pro-torture Republican.
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