The latest (halting) execution news from Florida

Over at SCOTUSblog here, Lyle Denniston has the latest news from Florida, where state official are trying to go forward with a lethal injection scheduled for tomorrow evening. Here are highlights from Lyle's report:

U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway in Orlando on Wednesday blocked the execution by lethal injection of Mark Dean Schwab, until after the Supreme Court rules in a pending Kentucky case challenging the same three-drug protocol.  “The overriding consideration in this case,” the judge ruled, “is that some of the very same issues Plaintiff presents here are currently pending for decision before the Supreme Court of the United States,” citing the case of Baze v. Rees (docket 07-5439). “Not only is the Supreme Court poised to clarify the standard by which the Eighth Amendment is to be interpreted in death cases, but the high court also has before it the constitutionality of using the very chemicals employed in this State as a means of carrying out the death sentence and challenged in the instant action.  Simply put, the Court would not issue this stay absent the Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in Baze.”  The judge’s nine-page ruling and stay order can be found [at this link].  Unless overturned by the Eleventh Circuit Court, the judge’s order would make it unnecessary for the Supreme Court to rule on a pending stay motion by Schwab.