Justices rule against Missouri inmate with rare health issue
Business Law
The Supreme Court said Monday that Missouri can execute an inmate who argued his rare medical condition will result in severe pain if he is given death-causing drugs.
The justices split along ideological lines in ruling 5-4 against inmate Russell Bucklew (BUCK-loo), who is on death row for a 1996 murder.
Justice Neil Gorsuch's opinion for the court's five conservative justices rejected Bucklew's argument that subjecting him to lethal injection could cause a tumor in his throat to burst and make him choke on his own blood. Bucklew said that would violate the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
"Today we bring this case to a close at last because we agree with the courts below that Mr. Bucklew's claim isn't supported by either the law or the evidence," Gorsuch said in summarizing his decision from the bench.
Bucklew was up against Supreme Court precedent in trying to get the justices to agree with him. The court has previously ruled that inmates challenging a method of execution have to show that there's an alternative that is likely to be less painful. Bucklew proposed that Missouri execute him by having him breathe pure nitrogen gas through a mask instead of by injecting him with a lethal dose of pentobarbital.
But Missouri said no state has ever carried out an execution as Bucklew suggested, calling his proposal vague and untested.
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Thai National Sentenced, Faces Deportation for Operating Immigration Fraud Scheme
Nimon Naphaeng, 36, a native and citizen of Thailand, who resided in Wakefield, R.I., was sentenced Monday to 27 months in federal prison for running an immigration fraud scheme that defrauded more than 320 individuals, most of them immigrants, of at least $400,000, and perhaps more than $518,000.
The scheme included the unauthorized filing of false asylum applications on behalf of individuals who did not request, nor authorize, the applications.
“U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services does not tolerate immigration fraud of any kind,” said Susan Raufer, director of the USCIS Newark Asylum Office. “We are proud of our role in uncovering this fraud scheme and bringing the perpetrator to justice.”
At sentencing, U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith ordered a provisional amount of restitution of $400,000. The final amount of restitution will be determined subject to additional victims being identified and additional court filings over the next 90 days. According to court documents already filed by the government, restitution in this matter may exceed $518,300. During the investigation, the government seized $285,789.31 from Naphaeng. The forfeited funds will be applied toward restitution for victims of Naphaeng’s crimes.