Federal judges decline to halt execution - Hattiesburg (MS) American

By HOLBROOK MOHR - July 22, 2008 JACKSON - Mississippi's method of lethal injection is "substantially similar" to a protocol affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court and does not violate constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, a split panel of federal judges ruled Monday. The panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans refused to delay the execution of inmate Dale Leo Bishop. Bishop is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Wednesday but has other appeals pending. Bishop was among several Mississippi death row prisoners who filed a federal lawsuit in 2007, claiming the state's three-drug procedure is unconstitutional because it could cause pain. A district court judge dismissed the lawsuit last week, and Bishop's attorneys appealed to the 5th Circuit. The three-judge panel on Monday found... [read full story]