Home > JOURNALS > BCLR > Vol. 53 > Iss. 6 (2012)
Article Title
Beaty and the Beast: A Prisoner’s Due Process Right to Notice of Changes to Execution Protocols
Document Type
Comments
Abstract
On May 25, 2011, in Beaty v. Brewer, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that a prisoner’s due process rights do not include the right to notice or to appeal a last-minute change to a state’s method of execution. In doing so, the court established a loophole, permitting states to avoid Eighth Amendment challenges to execution protocols by waiting until the final moment to amend them. This Comment argues that implicit within a prisoner’s right to challenge a state’s method of execution is a due process right to timely notice of changes to that method of execution.
Recommended Citation
Colin Chazen, Beaty and the Beast: A Prisoner’s Due Process Right to Notice of Changes to Execution Protocols, 53 B.C.L. Rev. E. Supp. 159 (2012), http://lawdigitalcommons.bc.edu/bclr/vol53/iss6/14