For nearly a century, state law has required that a physician be "present" during executions. But does present mean merely that a doctor is on hand to pronounce death, as it doubtless did in 1909 when the state centralized executions in Raleigh and started using the electric chair instead of hangings? Or does present mean, now that lethal injections have replaced the chair, that the doctor is available to take an active role?
The legal dispute over that issue, as fought out between the N.C. Medical Board and the Easley Administration's Department of Corrections -- represented by the Attorney General -- has created a de facto moratorium on capital punishment here since August, 2006. The dispute reached the N.C. Supreme Court today. Oral arguments, an hour long, can be viewed online at WRAL.com.