Lethal Injection, Appeal Limits OKd

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush signed bills in Tallahassee that make lethal injection the state’s primary means of execution and speed up the appeals process for death row inmates. The measures were passed in a special legislative session that was called to address executions, which have been on hold in Florida since the Supreme Court agreed in October to hear a challenge to the state’s use of the electric chair. The state has asked for the case to be dismissed. Bush had said he wouldn’t approve a switch to lethal injection without the second bill, which limits death row inmates to two appeals in state courts in most cases and requires that second appeals be filed within six months of the first.