S.Ct Stay of Texas Execution

In a fresh sign that the use of lethal injection in capital punishment faces an uncertain future, the Supreme Court issued an unusual last-minute reprieve for a death-row inmate in Texas late last night.

Tommy Arthur, 65, an inmate on Alabama’s death row.

Although the court gave no reason for its decision, the inmate, Carlton Turner Jr., had appealed to the court after it agreed on Tuesday to consider the constitutionality of lethal injection, the most commonly used method of execution in the United States. The decision suggests that until it issues a ruling on lethal injection, the court may be receptive to requests to delay such executions, at least for defendants whose cases raise no procedural issues.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/us/28lethal.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin