By RussWilcox [
From Sea to Shining Sea]
Published February 15, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA -- A judge ruled Tuesday that California must change its injection method for an execution next week, saying the current drug mix may constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel said that inmates may be conscious and undergoing extreme pain during execution.
The lethal injection method involves a sedative, a paralyzing agent and then a heart-stopping drug. Fogel ordered the state to either have an expert present to ensure Michael Morales is unconscious from the sedative, or replace a three-drug mix with a lethal dose of barbiturate.
Chicago Tribune
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Russell Wilcox is a retired college professor who spends several months in Florida and several months in Rhode Island each year, and whose interests include boating and sailing, political activism, ballroom dancing and bridge. He has an MBA from Harvard, a Computer Systems CAGS from Bryant and a BS from Northeastern. He has worked in industry for EG&G and Texas Instruments, operated his own business with more than 200 employees, and served as Director of the Computer Information Systems Program for Stonehill College. He is a published author of two technical studies, and is the proud father of four children and the proud grandfather of six grandchildren. A holder of two patents in microchip connections and a true product of the melting pot, his father is the son of a Yankee farmer, and his mother the second generation daughter of Italian immigrants who retained their culture, but strove mightily to become Americans, sending four sons to fight against Hitler and Mussolini.
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