High court rejects death row petitions

WASHINGTON, April 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court, as expected, declined a number of death row petitions Monday without comment.

All of the 11 petitions were filed before the justices ruled 7-2 last week in a case from Kentucky that the most usual method of lethal injection didn't violate the Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishments."

Kentucky's method is similar to the method used by 35 other states and the federal government, all of which impose the death penalty.

The New York Times said the 11 petitions came from seven states: Georgia, Ohio, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Arizona and Texas.

Most of the executions had been put on hold

CNN reported that three of the petitions came from inmates who had their executions delayed until the resolution of the Kentucky case. No executions have taken place since last year, when the high court agreed to hear the lethal injection case.