Does the use of midazolam sedative in executions violate the 8th Amendment? Supreme Court to decide.

States use sedatives when they are executing people. States used to use phenobarbital, which then became harder for states to use. But some states switched to another sedative, midazolam. The question before the Supreme Court is whether midazolam violates the 8th Amendment (barring cruel and unusual punishment) since it has no pain-reducing properties.

Article here (via ABA Journal).

Capital punishment and IQ: what's in a number?

The US Supreme Court held that states can't assign an IQ score to when an intellectually disabled person can be executed.

The states, the five-to-four majority ruled, cannot use a fixed IQ score as the measure of incapacity to be put to death.  “Intellectual incapacity,” the Court said, “is a condition, not a number.”

Article here (from scotusblog). 

Tennessee revives electric chair for executions when lethal drugs unavailable

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam on Thursday signed a bill into law allowing the state to electrocute death row inmates in the event the state is unable to obtain drugs used for lethal injections.

Article here. 
 
Tennessee lawmakers overwhelmingly passed the electric chair legislation in April, with the Senate voting 23-3 and the House 68-13 in favor of the bill.

Florida Supreme Court ordered a new trial for death row inmate- two hours from execution.

The Florida Supreme Court is ordering a new trial for a man that's been on death row for 28 years and was once two hours away from being executed.

Article here.