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Arkansas Death Penalty

Arkansas high court halts two executions that were scheduled for tonight

Justices also removed Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen from all death-penalty cases after he participated in a protest. Ref. USAToday.

Penalty Death Arkansas

Arkansas executed its first inmate since 2005 after the Supreme Court denied remaining motions for execution

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for Ledell Lee's execution after rejecting efforts to block Arkansas from using a controversial lethal injection drug. Arkansas originally sought to execute eight men, convicted of different murders decades ago, over an 11-day period because its supply of midazolam expires April 30. Three of those executions have been blocked; three others are scheduled for next week. Ref. USAToday.

Arkansas Death Penalty History & Civil Business Politics

These are not good men people are trying to save from the gallows. These people did terrible things, destroying peoples' lives. Sometimes the death penalty is the correct choice. I hear people say it doesn't deter crime. I tell you what, it certainly deters the person you execute from ever committing another crime.

Penalty Death Arkansas

Arkansas executes Jack Harold Jones after Supreme Court denies stay of execution request

Arkansas executed Jones, 52, on Monday who was one of the eight inmates who were scheduled to be put to death in the state before the April 30 expiration of one of its lethal injection drugs. The situation has drawn condemnation from across the country, as critics assert that the rush to put the inmates to death is preventing them from adequate legal review. The high court stepped in to review the case of Marcel Williams, who faces the death penalty tonight, after a U.S. District Court rejected a request to reopen the federal murder case because Williams' lawyers failed to investigate and introduce to the jury details of his troubled childhood. Ref. USAToday.

Penalty Death Arkansas

Arkansas has executed Marcel Wayne Williams, the state's attorney general says, making him the second man to be put to death Monday night -- in Arkansas' first double execution since 1999. Williams was found guilty of murdering Stacy Errickson in 1994.

Arkansas also executed Jack Harold Jones on Monday. He was sentenced to death for the 1995 rape and murder of Mary Phillips.

Marcel Williams was scheduled to follow Jones. The two were among eight inmates Gov. Asa Hutchinson set for execution in April before the state's supply of sedatives used in lethal injection expires at the end of the month.

Before the second execution could begin, a federal district court judge issued a temporary stay based on claims from Williams' lawyers that Jones' death was "Torturous and inhumane." Infirmary staff tried unsuccessfully for 45 minutes to place a line in Jones' neck, before placing one elsewhere on his body, the emergency motion read.

The state called the claims "Utterly baseless" and a federal judge lifted the temporary stay, clearing the way for Williams' execution to proceed. Ref. CNN.

Arkansas Death Penalty

The reason they couldn't get the line into a vein in the neck is due to the size of the man. I understand this is controversial and having to do this in a different manner makes it more so, but what this man did was heinous. Both men actually. The last memory in one woman's life was of one of these men brutally raping her and then he took her life. If anyone deserves the death penalty it's him.

Arkansas Death Penalty

Sometimes it is the way of the world to get rid of those who kill for no good reason. Raping and killing is not a good thing so this man being killed for that crime while sad is what the courts decided for his fate. That fate has been carried out.

Arkansas Death Penalty Politics Business Civil & History

Yeah, I agree. I am torn by the death penalty. I say that because it is absolutely final and we have found quite a few instances where people convicted of heinous crimes are found innocent later after new evidence emerges. Although it's impossible to make up for the lost years, at least they get their freedom. In the case of death, there is no such opportunity.

That said, the crimes many of these people are convicted of are so bad they makes my blood boil. My soul cries out for justice for the victims. I understand we aren't supposed to punish people with vengeance… but the crimes some of these people have committed screams for more than life in prison. I know what I'd do if someone hurt one of my girls, and it wouldn't be pretty, nor would it be quick.