A federal appeals court has denied a Georgia inmate’s request to be executed via firing squad instead of by lethal injection.
The execution of J.W. Ledford Jr., is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, and Ledford challenged the method of his execution on Thursday. On Monday, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the motion of Ledford, who was convicted of murdering his neighbor, robbing his neighbor’s wife and burglarizing their home in 1992.
“We also agree with the district court that Ledford has not alleged sufficient facts to render it plausible that a firing squad is a feasible and readily implemented method of execution in Georgia that would significantly reduce a substantial risk of severe pain,” wrote Judge M. Hall for the 11th Circuit. “The Georgia legislature is free, within the parameters established by the U.S. Constitution, to choose the method of execution it deems appropriate. Execution by lethal injection has been ruled constitutional.”
While the court rejected his motion to carry out the execution via a firing squad, not all federal judges are opposed. Judge Alex Kozinski, a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judge, has said he prefers the death penalty be administered by firing squad or guillotine instead of lethal injection.
