The Hill News

On March 11, the State of Ohio executed a murderer using a single dose of a powerful sedative, pentobarbital. Scientifically, there was nothing remarkable in this. The same drug has been used for euthanasia in Oregon, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, and veterinarians use it routinely for animal euthanasia.

Legally, though, this is a significant development. As other states follow suit, it should bring to a close a particularly pernicious branch of capital litigation that has further delayed justice in cases with no doubt of guilt, years after all legal issues concerning the trial and sentence have been resolved.

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