Big week for execution protocols

A few executions scheduled for this week should bring still more attention to state execution processes.

In Tennessee, as detailed in this AP story, a death row defendant scheduled to be executed tomorrow has chosen "the electric chair over the state's preferred method of lethal injection."  The defendant has dropped his appeals and thus will likely "become the first prisoner to die in Tennessee's electric chair in 46 years."

In Florida, as detailed in this commentary, Clarence Hill is once again just days away from being executed and he still has not had his Eighth Amendment claims concerning Florida's lethal injection protocol considered on the merits.  It will be interesting to see how the Supreme Court handles Hill this time around.

Some recent related posts:

• Up and down the Hill again
• Execution method stories
• My lethal injection piece on SSRN
• Missouri still struggling with its execution protocol
• My take on the other side of Hill
• Old school execution