Liberal justices blast Supreme Court majority for allowing Alabama execution

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SUPREME COURT

Liberal justices blast Supreme Court majority for allowing Alabama execution

The high court allowed the execution of James Barber despite botched attempts to execute other inmates last year.

July 21, 2023, 8:42 AM EDT
By Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON — The three liberal Supreme Court justices took aim at their conservative colleagues for allowing the early Friday execution of an Alabama death row inmate who had raised claims about the state's history of botching the lethal injection process. ... The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, declined to block the execution of James Barber, who was put to death at about 2 a.m. local time.

"This court’s decision denying Barber’s request for a stay allows Alabama to experiment again with a human life," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissenting opinion joined by her liberal colleagues, Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Barber had argued that the execution would violate his right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment under the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

His claim was raised in light of the state's problems executing three inmates last year. Two of those executions, those of Alan Miller and Kenneth Smith, were ultimately called off when prison officials could not access a suitable vein. Another inmate, Joe James, was put to death only after a three-hour delay.

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Lawrence Hurley covers the Supreme Court for NBC News.
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