On April 4, 2002, after many years of appeals following his criminal conviction, Abu-Ali Abdur'Rahman filed a petition in the Circuit Court for Davidson County, Tennessee, to reopen his post-petition case and raise several issues, including the constitutionality of the death penalty administered by lethal injection. The circuit court dismissed the petition with regard to all issues except the constitutionality of lethal injection. The state legislature enacted lethal injection as a means of execution in 1998 and appointed a committee to establish a protocol for its use. The plaintiff sought review of the constitutionality of that protocol. After a hearing, the trial court found for the state. The Court of Appeals of Tennessee affirmed.

The Tennessee Supreme Court (Chief Justice E. Riley Anderson) affirmed on October 17, 2005, finding that the protocol did not violate contemporary standards of decency and the plaintiff had not established that the procedures amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Abdur'Rahman v. Bredesen, 181 S.W.3d 292 (Tenn. 2005). The United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on May 22, 2006. Abdur'Rahman v. Bredesen, 126 S.Ct. 2288 (2006).

Angela Heverling - 07/28/2007


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