U.S. Supreme Court won't intervene in Death Row heat suit

Louisiana Death Row

NEW ORLEANS -- A U.S. Supreme Court justice has refused to intervene in an ongoing case about hot conditions on Death Row at the Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola.

The case involves a suit filed on behalf of three Death Row inmates. It resulted in last year's ruling by a federal judge in Baton Rouge that Death Row gets so hot it violates U.S. constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

The judge ordered prison officials to develop a plan for cooling the facilities where condemned killers are held.

However, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal put the order on hold in June while state prison officials appeal.

The three inmates asked the Supreme Court to vacate that stay. On Thursday, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia denied the inmates' application without comment.

Source: AP, July 3, 2014

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