skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Condemned Man: Execution Illegal

play audio
Play

Monday, April 4, 2011   

AUSTIN, Texas - A condemned man is still fighting his execution scheduled for tomorrow in Huntsville, after a district judge ruled that new procedures do not violate state law. Lawyers for Cleve Foster are appealing that decision today, insisting that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) ignored the need for a public review process before replacing a no-longer available execution drug.

Co-counsel Maurie Levin says she has genuine concerns about unknowns surrounding pentobarbitol, which is just starting to be used in U.S. executions instead of sodium thiopental. But, she adds, the main demand of her client's lawsuit is government transparency.

"It's about holding state officials who work for us accountable. Those principles of open government are essential to democracy. We can't apply them selectively."

The state argues procedural laws do not apply to certain inmate matters. Levin disagrees, saying the TDCJ unnecessarily withheld its plans for the new drug from death-row inmates for months.

She acknowledges that such legal challenges to capital punishment cases don't always generate a lot of popular sympathy; still, she says, even death-penalty advocates ought to be concerned about procedural violations by the state.

"It is the gravest task that we carry out - the execution of one of our citizens - and what we're asking is that TDCJ follow the law."

In a related matter, attorneys have asked the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency and the Texas Department of Public Safety to investigate the legality of how prison officials obtain, register and distribute execution drugs.

Maurie Levin is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Texas Capital Punishment Center. Levin's filings are also on behalf of Humberto Leal, who is scheduled to be executed on July 7, 2011.




get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021