State Supreme Court rules state execution protocols OK

State Supreme Court rules state execution protocols OK

ralphhardin@gmail.com Last Thursday, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld execution protocols for executions by way of lethal injection drugs. The decision puts the state back on track for resuming the administration of capital punishment. Arkansas has not held an execution in more than a decade.

The debate came about last September, when Governor Asa Hutchinson announce his intention to resume executions in Arkansas, setting dates for eight death row inmates.

Those inmates proffered the argument that prison officials were violating state law by not disclosing the manufacturers and suppliers of the lethal injection drugs, and that some of the chemicals in the lethal mixture could lead to suffering that would violate constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.

In announcing its decision, the state Supreme Court ruled that the inmates had 'failed to establish that the identity of the supplier of the drugs bears any relevance.'

“Today's decision from the Arkansas Supreme Court …

once again shows that Arkansas’s method of execution by lethal injection is lawful,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “It also upholds important confidentiality provisions passed by the General Assembly to protect drug manufacturers and suppliers from intimidation and harassment. As to the state’s next steps, I will notify the Governor once the stays of executions have been lifted so that he may set execution dates. I know that victims’ families want to see justice carried out, and that is exactly what I will continue to work toward as Attorney General.” Arkansas has executed 27 prisoners since the U.S.

Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

The last prisoner executed in the state was Eric Randall Nance, sentenced to death for the 1993 murder of Julie Heath, 18, of Malvern. Nance was put to death Nov. 28, 2005.

By Ralph Hardin