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GUESTS: Arthur Zitrin, Emeritus professor of psychiatry at the NY University School of Medicine, Celeste Fitzgerald, program director of New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Last week, the US Supreme Court rejected a constitutional challenge to death by lethal injection in the state of Kentucky. The Baze vs. Rees decision will end the death penalty moratorium that was in effect in several states since the Court agreed to hear the case. The challenge to Kentucky’s administration of the death penalty was based on the assertion that the drug cocktail administered to death row inmates is cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court was so split on the vote however, that the nine justices wrote a total of seven separate opinions. The most extreme opinions, authored by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas claimed that the death penalty was an explicitly sanctioned by the constitution.

New Jersey is the only US state to legislate an end to the death penalty. The group, New Jerseyans for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, was the principle organizer behind that movement. Their website is www.njadp.org.

Death Penalty Focus’ Annual Awards Dinner is on Thursday April 24th starting at 6:30 pm at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd. Beverly Hills, CA. To purchase tickets, or find out about sponsorship opportunities, contact Michael Teta at michael@mtaevents.com or 818-906-0240. For more information, email alison@deathpenalty.org or call 415-243-0143.

Death Penalty Focus’ Website is www.deathpenalty.org.