Free Republic

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 on Monday that a Missouri man can be executed by lethal injection after he argued that a medical condition would cause him "severe pain" during the procedure. Russell Bucklew, who was convicted of murder, kidnapping and rape, appealed his planned execution, claiming it would violate his Eighth Amendment rights protecting him against "cruel and unusual punishment." Justice Neil Gorsuch, however, wrote in the court’s opinion that justices “can discern no lawful basis” for blocking Bucklew’s execution. Bucklew had been convicted in the 1996 kidnapping and rape of his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Ray, and the murder of...

President Bush's flight into Baghdad may have been dangerous, but he has told friends the part of the Iraq war he dreads the most is writing letters to the families of slain soldiers. The notes, however, are cherished by the grieving families. "It was a brief note, probably a form letter, but the President took the time to thank me and remember Brian's sacrifice, and that does make a difference," said Ronald Slavenas of Genoa, Ill., whose son, helicopter pilot 1st Lt. Brian Slavenas, 30, died Nov. 2. "Nothing makes up for the loss, but it is good to know...

BEAVER FALLS, Pa., Nov. 8 -- An Army sergeant killed in a missile attack as he was returning home for his mother's funeral was buried along with her on Saturday. More than 200 family members and friends gathered at a school auditorium about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for a double funeral for Sgt. Ernest Bucklew and his mother. Mary Ellen Bucklew, 57, of Darlington Township died Oct. 31 of an aneurysm as she drove home from work. Her son, 33, was on emergency leave two days later when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down near...

CHIPPEWA TWP. - Not even a bagpiper playing "Amazing Grace" could drown out the guttural sobs of Dawn Marie DeFelice on Saturday as she sat in front of the caskets bearing her brother and her mother. In a funeral service filled with tears and a touch of laughter, family and friends said their farewells to Mary Ellen Bucklew, 57, of Darlington Township and her only son, Ernie, who was killed in Iraq on Nov. 2 while trying to return home to mourn his mother. "This is not a hopeless end, but an endless hope," said the Rev. Jay Hurley of...

BEAVER FALLS, Pa. - An Army sergeant killed in a missile attack as he was returning home for his mother's funeral was buried along with her Saturday. More than 200 family members and friends gathered at a school auditorium about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh for a double funeral for Sgt. Ernest Bucklew and his mother. Mary Ellen Bucklew, 57, of Darlington Township, died Oct. 31 of an aneurism as she drove home from work. Her 33-year-old son was on emergency leave two days later when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down near Fallujah, Iraq. Sixteen...