By Bill Zeeble, KERA reporter
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-664393.mp3
Dallas, TX – Texas leads the nation in executions by a factor of 4. Since lethal injections were reinstated in 1976, the state's executed 405 death row inmates. Virginia was the next highest, with 98. Last year, Texas put 26 to death. But since September 25th, various courts have stayed every scheduled Texas execution - and all others - nationwide. That's because of the challenge brought by 2 Kentucky death row inmates who say lethal injections amount to cruel and unusual punishment. Until the court rules - likely this Spring - Steve Hall, with the anti-death penalty organization Standown Texas, says the state has a defacto moratorium on the death penalty.
Stephen Hall, Stand Down Texas: The Supreme Court is simply not going to permit any scheduled execution pending their decision.
Zeeble: It's unclear what that will be. The Texas Attorney General supports continued executions here, arguing the Kentucky execution protocols - used in Texas and other elsewhere - are neither constitutionally cruel nor unusual. The only pending Texas execution is now scheduled for February 21st. But experts say it won't proceed until the Supreme Court rules. Bill Zeeble KERA news.