The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the first federal executions in 17 years could proceed, overturning an injunction blocking them in order to allow legal challenges to the government's lethal-injection protocol to continue.
"The Government has produced competing expert testimony of its own, indicating that any pulmonary edema occurs only after the prisoner has died or been rendered fully insensate," the court said.
"We vacate the District Court's preliminary injunction so that the plaintiffs' executions may proceed as planned," it added.