Bloomberg Law
Aug. 10, 2018, 1:58 PM UTC

Sotomayor Condemns Supreme Court’s ‘Rush’ in Tenn. Execution

Kimberly Strawbridge Robinson

The U.S. Supreme Court “turned a blind eye” to the potential suffering of a Tennessee death row inmate when it refused to halt his execution Aug. 9, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said.

Billy Ray Irick was executed Aug. 9 by lethal injection for raping and murdering a 7-year-old in the 1980s.

In a sharply worded and lone dissent to the Supreme Court’s stay denial, Sotomayor lashed out at her colleagues for their refusal to step in to halt Irick’s death.

“If the law permits this execution to go forward in spite of the horrific final minutes that Irick may well experience, ...

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