The Supreme Court early Friday morning allowed Alabama to move forward with its first lethal injection since the state paused executions last year over concerns about the procedure.
Convicted murderer James Barber, 64, was pronounced dead at 2:56 a.m. ET, according to the state’s Department of Corrections, nearly two hours after the justices rejected Barber’s emergency request to halt the execution.
The court denied Barber’s request despite public dissents from the court’s three liberals, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, who said Alabama was using Barber as its “guinea pig.”
After the state experienced issues securing the necessary IV access in three lethal injections last year, two of which were canceled, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey (R) paused executions and ordered a “top-to-bottom” review.
Alabama then added new personnel to the IV team and expanded the time frame the prison system has to complete an execution.
But attorneys for Barber, who was convicted of murdering 75-year-old Dorothy Epps in 2001 by beating her to death with a claw hammer, cast doubt that the changes solved the previous issues.
“None of these ‘changes’ constitute serious efforts to fix Respondents’ pattern of botched execution after botched execution,” Barber’s attorneys wrote to the justices.
His attorneys claimed Barber’s Eighth Amendment rights, which protect against cruel and unusual punishment, were likely to be violated if the execution was allowed to move ahead.
“Alabama plans to kill him by lethal injection in a matter of hours, without ever allowing him discovery into what went wrong in the three prior executions and whether the State has fixed those problems,” Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, joined by Kagan and Jackson. “The Eighth Amendment demands more than the State’s word that this time will be different.”
The Supreme Court rarely grants death-row inmates’ bids to halt their executions. The majority of the 15 people who have been executed so far this year applied to the Supreme Court for emergency review and were denied, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Both the district court and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had sided with Alabama in Barber’s attempt to stop his execution, finding no likely violation of his Eighth Amendment rights.
“Obtaining intravenous access is a common procedure that is unquestionably necessary to the state’s interest in carrying out lawful executions,” the state wrote to the justices.
“Barber would have this Court grant certiorari on a claim that an IV team who had the appropriate licenses, certifications, and experience might have difficulty accessing his veins so that multiple sticks were required,” it continued. “But embracing Barber’s standard would effectively bar any lethal injection execution, as well has calling into question innumerable other situations where IV access must be obtained in a carceral setting.”
The state had also argued Barber’s request should be denied because he unreasonably delayed bringing his claim.
Barber filed his lawsuit May 25, roughly three weeks after the Alabama Supreme Court permitted Ivey to set the time period for Barber’s execution.
Previously, prison officials were prescribed a singular day to execute a death-row inmate, setting up a midnight deadline for the lethal executions to be completed. But after the state’s review, the governor is now granted the ability to set a longer time period.
After losing in the 11th Circuit on Wednesday, Barber, hours before his scheduled execution, filed his emergency request with the justices earlier Thursday.
Barber’s attorneys said in court filings the timeline was “entirely the making” of Alabama, noting that Ivey scheduled Thursday’s execution date five days after Barber filed the lawsuit.
“Mr. Barber did not lie in wait with his claim in an attempt to interrupt a scheduled execution. Rather, Mr. Barber brought this lawsuit as soon as possible, in order to be executed on this date by the readily alternative method of nitrogen hypoxia,” his attorneys wrote.
The Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement that Barber had 22 visitors and two phone calls Thursday. He refused to eat breakfast but ate snacks, drank beverages and ate a final meal of loaded hash browns, a western omelet, spicy sausage and white toast.
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A rainy and at times stormy day is in the forecast for much of Alabama for the first day of June.
Isolated severe thunderstorms will be possible across much of the state, especially later this afternoon into the evening hours.
NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center is maintaining a Level 1 out of 5 risk for severe weather for most of Alabama today. The exception is far eastern parts of the state, which could get rain and storms but not severe storms.
A Level 1 risk means that isolated severe storms will be possible.
The strongest storms could have damaging wind gusts, but the hail and tornado threats are low for this go-around.
However, the National Weather Service is closely watching rainfall totals, especially in south Alabama, which has seen several severe storms overnight and a lot of heavy rain.
The weather service in Mobile early this morning reported a 69 mph wind gust in Fairhope in Baldwin County as severe storms moved through, and isolated rain totals of up to 5 inches have been reported in the Mobile area.
A flood watch will be in effect through the afternoon for Mobile and Baldwin counties.
The National Weather Service in Mobile expects thunderstorms to become more numerous this morning and last through early this afternoon. Forecasters said widespread rain totals of 2 to 4 inches will be possible, and isolated areas could get as much as 6 to 8 inches.
The weather service in Mobile has placed an elevated risk for flooding across parts of south Alabama and northwest Florida today:
Areas near the Gulf Coast have an elevated risk for flash flooding today after a night of storms and heavy rain.NWS
Rain will be possible in Alabama on Sunday as well, but there is no severe weather in the forecast. In fact, there is no severe weather in the forecast (after today) for the rest of the week in Alabama, although the typical summertime rain and scattered storms will be possible through the week.
Tyler Buchner spent one season as a quarterback at Alabama, following his offensive coordinator Tommy Rees to Tuscaloosa for the opportunity to play for the Crimson Tide. Buchner was not named the starter, as Jalen Milroe won the job.
But after Milroe struggled in Alabama’s loss to Texas, Buchner got his opportunity with a start at USF. In the now infamous game, Buchner was 5-of-14 for 34 yards. He finished his Crimson Tide career with 61 total yards and no touchdowns before deciding to re-enter the transfer portal and return to Notre Dame to play a different sport.
“I had been lured to Alabama by opportunities that glistened like gold in the Southern sun,” Buchner said in a personal essay released on the Notre Dame official athletic website. “When I transferred, it was with a heavy heart and a mind clouded by uncertainty. There were whispers in my ear, persuasive voices, and the glittering prospect of opportunity. As a 20-year-old, the ache of leaving behind the Fighting Irish was overshadowed by the pull of the transfer portal and the promise of playing one season for Coach Saban as the next logical step towards playing in the NFL. But I had forgotten why I chose Notre Dame in the first place, and it took a season away to realize what I had and why I loved Notre Dame.”
Buchner recently won a national title with the Notre Dame lacrosse team, and on Friday, he announced that he would be rejoining the Fighting Irish football team as a walk-on wide receiver.
Join us in welcoming Ross Thompson to the Alabama Gymnastics family! ✨
Thompson’s previous stint at Illinois featured two consecutive team berths to the NCAA Regionals.
As a student-athlete at Illinois (2016-19), Thompson led his team to three consecutive third-place finishes… pic.twitter.com/LljWtvaYRG
— Alabama Gymnastics (@BamaGymnastics) May 31, 2024
Excited to welcome Damien Nezar to the Alabama tennis squad 😎
📝https://t.co/TSy5VYgLZi#RollTide pic.twitter.com/8Kh4pwFiZr
— Alabama Men’s Tennis (@AlabamaMTN) May 31, 2024
Our incredible, historic season comes to a close at the 2024 Women’s College World Series.
Thank you to the Loyal and True for your support all season long 🧡 #GoPokes | #REP pic.twitter.com/z4r9bI7OL0
— OSU Cowgirl Softball (@cowgirlsb) June 1, 2024
91 days
June 1, 1968: Kenny Stabler and Dennis Homan were named to compete in the College Football All-Star game, with the collegiate stars slated to face the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers, winners over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II. The Packers were led by quarterback former Alabama quarterback Bart Starr, the MVP of both world championship games. — Bryant Museum
“I don’t know, we haven’t played Alabama yet.”—Vince Lombardi after being asked what it felt like to be the greatest football team in the world just after winning the ’66 Super Bowl.
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