By Alabama Public Radio
Washington, DC – The US Supreme Court will hear the appeal of Alabama death row inmate David Larry Nelson, who claims that lethal injection would be a cruel and unusual punishment for him.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that lower courts were wrong to block Nelson's earlier appeals. Nelson says lethal injection would be cruel for him because he has collapsed veins, caused by years of illicit drug use. He says inserting an intravenous line would be impossible without cutting deep into his flesh and muscle.
Nelson has been on death row more than 20 years. He was granted a temporary reprieve just three hours before his scheduled execution last fall.