STOPPED

SCOTUS Halts Lethal Injection

Rather than risk another botched execution.

On Wednesday night, the Supreme Court blocked the execution of a Missouri prisoner rather than risking another botched lethal injection. Russell Bucklew, 46, was convicted of killing a man and kidnapping and raping his ex-girlfriend in 1996. His lawyers and a doctor argued a birth defect could complicate his lethal-injection execution. It is highly rare for the Supreme Court to interfere in last-minute appeals by death-row inmates, but memories of the unusually painful execution of Clayton Lockett last month in Oklahoma still linger. The ruling suggests the majority of Supreme Court judges are concerned about the unregulated compounding pharmacies sourcing lethal-injection drugs.