Regarding the last post, the judge did not rule out the death penalty for Michael Morales, but only to alter the procedure. From the Sacramento Bee:
Judge says state must change lethal injection procedure or postpone Morales’ execution.
[U.S. District Judge Jeremy] Fogel noted in his ruling that no court has found lethal injection to be an unconstitutional form of punishment, and he said he’s not about to do so. The issue, he said, is assuring the procedure is carried out in a constitutional manner.
State officials need to chant, bark at the moon, burn incense or whatever the judge says in order to just stick the needle in Morales and get on with it!