Ralph Baze (born July 1, 1955) is a convicted

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

er who

sued A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. T ...

the

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

State Department of Corrections along with fellow inmate

Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr. Thomas Clyde Bowling Jr. (January 18, 1953 – March 21, 2015) was an American convicted murderer who unsuccessfully challenged the U.S. Constitution, constitutionality of his death sentence. Bowling was convicted and sentenced to death for the Ap ...

to challenge their impending

execution Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in ...

. He and Bowling sued on the grounds that

execution by lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but the ...

using the "cocktail" prescribed by Kentucky law constitutes

cruel and unusual punishment Cruel and unusual punishment is a phrase in common law describing punishment that is considered unacceptable due to the suffering, pain, or humiliation it inflicts on the person subjected to the sanction. The precise definition varies by jurisdi ...

in violation of the 8th Amendment. Baze's court case was ''

Baze v. Rees ''Baze v. Rees'', 553 U.S. 35 (2008), is a decision by the United States Supreme Court, which upheld the constitutionality of a particular method of lethal injection used for capital punishment. Background of the case Ralph Baze and Thomas Bowl ...

''. Baze had been scheduled for execution on 25 September 2007 but, on 12 September, was issued a

stay of execution A stay of execution ( Law Latin: ''cesset executio'', "let execution cease") is a court order to temporarily suspend the execution of a court judgment or other court order. The word "execution" refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is bei ...

by the

Kentucky Supreme Court The Kentucky Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to its creation by constitutional amendment in 1975, the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of Ap ...

. The

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

agreed to hear his

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...

. On April 16, 2008, the Court affirmed the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision that the injection protocol does not violate the Eighth Amendment. Baze does not dispute that he shot and killed

Powell County, Kentucky Powell County is a County (United States), county located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. Commonwealth of Kentucky. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 13,129. Its county seat is Stanton, Kentucky, Stanto ...

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Steve Bennett and

Deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

Arthur Briscoe in 1992 as they attempted to serve an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...

on him, but claims that the shootings were

self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...

. Baze is incarcerated on death row in

Kentucky State Penitentiary The Kentucky State Penitentiary (KSP), also known as the "Castle on the Cumberland", is a maximum security and supermax prison with capacity for 856 prisoners located in Eddyville, Kentucky on Lake Barkley on the Cumberland River, about from d ...

Eddyville, Kentucky Eddyville is a list of Kentucky cities, home rule-class city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kentucky, Lyon County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 2,554 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 2,350 in 2000. T ...

References

Ky. Inmate Challenges Execution Method
Brett Barrouquere,

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

, 25 September 2007
Ralph Baze granted stay of execution
Brett Barrouquere

Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is a daily newspaper published in ...

, 12 September 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Baze, Ralph 1955 births Living people American people convicted of murdering police officers American prisoners sentenced to death People convicted of murder by Kentucky Prisoners sentenced to death by Kentucky 1992 murders in the United States

See also

References