California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed on Wednesday to defend the death penalty, saying capital punishment conforms with the will of the people.
The governor made the statement after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of lethal injection.
The ruling has settled an important issue regarding the constitutionality of the lethal injection protocol.
"Today's U.S. Supreme Court decision supports California's lethal injection protocol and allows our case to move forward," the governor said.
"I will continue to defend the death penalty and the will of the people, and I am confident that California's lethal injection protocol will be upheld," he said.
Voting 7-2, the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts rebuffed the latest assault on capital punishment, approving the most widely used method of lethal injection.
With the ruling, the longest pause in executions in the U.S. in 25 years is about to end.
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks at a summit conference on global climate change hosted by Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in Miami, Florida July 13, 2007. This time opponents of the death penalty challenged methods rather than the legality of the death penalty itself, calling for an end to the Kentucky procedures that employ three drugs to sedate, paralyze and kill inmates. Similar methods are used by roughly three dozen states.
But their demand was turned down by the court.
Executions have been on hold since September, when the court agreed to hear the Kentucky case. The justices stepped in to halt six executions, and many others were put off because of the high court's review.
Forty-two people were executed last year out of more than 3,300people on death rows across the country.
Source:Xinhua
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