Despite the extraordinary welling up of outrage around the Davis execution, prisoners have continued to be executed steadily over the past 12 months.
Hill's attorney, Brian Kammer, issued a statement after the stay: "All the doctors who have examined Mr Hill are unanimous in their diagnosis of mental retardation, so there is no question that his execution would have been in violation of the US supreme court's 2002 ruling in Atkins v Virginia.
The federal appeals court in Atlanta ordered that the execution should be delayed for at least 30 days, while a Georgia court of appeals imposed its own stay to give the courts more time to consider the propriety of the single lethal injection as a method of killing.
One of the issues that must now be considered is the method of execution in Georgia.
The sister of Troy Davis, the man whose execution a year ago amid substantial evidence that he was innocent sparked protests across the US and the world, has vowed to keep on fighting until the death penalty is ended "one state at a time".
The most recent execution took place in Ohio yesterday.
You can clearly see the speed and assurance of Schiele's execution, the uninhibited flow of the hand, denoting – in a few quick seconds of activity – tumbling curls of hair or crumpled fabric, or the fluid confluence of flank and hip and thigh.
We should now consider why African countries must invest in science and technology, how science creates wealth, and what Africa must do to achieve this "new liberation" – using its untapped natural wealth, human resources, and effective policy execution to create explosive wealth that by-passes western-led globalisation and creates national and continental technology hubs.
"This project forms the main cornerstone (main target) of a series of planned attacks that have been prepared for synchronised execution on the same day at the same time," he wrote.
"In addition, the executing officer or a person assisting is empowered to leave a warrant premise temporarily and subsequently re-enter to continue the execution of the warrant in certain instances where, for example, the occupier returns home and the covert nature of the warrant is at risk.
Because Mr Basinski – and we use the deferential formal term of address because his work is sufficiently serious in its execution and substantial in its weight and gravitas to warrant it – is a truly welcome discovery.
