Free Republic

Supreme Court to allow execution of mentally ill inmate 01/25/2003 The Associated PressCONROE, Texas — The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a new execution date to be set for a convicted killer granted a last-minute stay in late 2002 because he is mentally ill.The high court quietly lifted its Nov. 6 stay last Tuesday for James Colburn, a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic who has spent time in a prison psychiatric ward several times.The former carpenter and bricklayer confessed to police and, last year, to reporters that he choked and stabbed 55-year-old Peggy Louise Murphy to death on June...

Florida's death row inmates say they can't take the heat Suit alleges cruel and unusual punishment in cells with no fans, A/C 08/11/2002 Associated Press JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Florida death row inmates say temperatures that routinely top 100 degrees in their cells force them to stand in toilets, drape themselves in wet towels and sleep naked on concrete floors. Those allegations are at the heart of a class-action lawsuit that claims the heat inside Union Correctional Institution near Raiford is cruel and unusual punishment and could lead to mental and physical illness and even death. U.S. District Judge Ralph...