Supreme Court looks at lethal injections

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will consider the methods states use to execute criminals, specifically the constitutionality of lethal injections with midazolam (the drug used to render inmates unconscious before administering drugs to paralyze and kill them). Three death row inmates are challenging Oklahoma's lethal injection method, one that's used by several other states. The problem is the use of midazolam as part of a three- drug cocktail. Midazolam was implicated in three botched executions last year in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona, where prisoners gasped, groaned and snorted before succumbing. Some have indicated the drug may violate the Constitution. The argument being given is that the drug does not put inmates in a deep enough coma to shield them from pain and thus violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

In Other News Nepalese authorities have so far said 5,006 people died and officials have warned the death toll is expected to rise further. The U.S. military said this week it has made great progress in its effort to develop a self-steering bullet. In February, the "smart bullets" caliber projectiles equipped with optical sensors -- passed their most successful round of live-fire tests to date. Videos supplied by DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) show the bullets making sharp turns in midair as they pursue their targets. Indonesia executed eight drug smugglers by firing squad early today, and the fallout has been swift. Two of the eight were Australians, and Australia has recalled its Indonesian ambassador in protest. Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the executions "cruel and unnecessary." Of the six other men who were put to death, four were Nigerians, one was a Brazilian and another was an Indonesian. The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on the constitutionality of gay marriage. The high court seemed to be split, splintering into its usual left-right divide and leaving Justice Anthony Kennedy as the probable deciding vote. Most of the justices' questions involved the definition of marriage and whether gay marriage should be decided by voters or the judiciary. Kennedy, at the start of arguments, joined other court conservatives in pointing out that marriage has been defined as being between a man and a woman. But later, he seemed to side with the court's liberal wing in acknowledging gay couples sought "dignity" for their relationships through marriage. The decision of the court is expected in June. Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in the middle of a historic, week-long visit to the U.S., but it's his congressional speech on Wednesday that is drawing the most attention. It's the first time a world leader from Japan has been invited to speak before a joint session of Congress since the end of World War II. Abe's views on the war have caused problems on both sides of the Pacific. Since taking office, he has made statements that seem to gloss over Japan's wartime atrocities and cast doubt on his commitment to official apologies issued by previous prime ministers for war crimes.