Executions resume; Justice Department raided

Executions resume

The state of Georgia this week carried out the first execution of a U.S. prisoner since the Supreme Court ruled last month that death by lethal injection does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment. William Lynd, 53, had been sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend in 1988. Death-penalty states had observed a de facto moratorium on executions since last September, when the high court agreed to hear a challenge to the use of a three-drug “cocktail” to kill condemned prisoners.

Justice Department raided

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FBI agents this week raided the Justice Department’s Office of Special Counsel as well as the home of the agency’s chief, Scott Bloch. The office, established after the Watergate scandal to protect government whistle-blowers from retaliation, has been under investigation for two years. Former employees have claimed that Bloch retaliated against career employees who criticized his management. He is also accused of hiring an outside contractor to purge his computer of incriminating data. Bloch maintains the contractor was hired only to rid his computer of a virus.