Arkansas says death row inmates not entitled to new hearing
Source: Associated Press
Arkansas says death row inmates not entitled to new hearing
Kelly P. Kissel, Associated Press
Updated 4:20 pm, Thursday, July 14, 2016
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Government lawyers said Thursday that eight death row inmates who lost a challenge to secrecy provisions within Arkansas' execution protocol aren't entitled to another review and that further filings by the prisoners would delay justice for victims and their families.
The Arkansas Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, ruled against the inmates June 23. Their lawyers subsequently asked justices to reconsider their decision, and requested stays of execution pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Merritt wrote Thursday that justices not let the men cause additional delays.
Arkansas has not put a prisoner to death since 2005 due to various court challenges and its inability to obtain lethal drugs. Last summer, it obtained midazolam to render the inmates unconscious, vecuronium bromide as a paralytic and potassium chloride to stop the heart, but the paralytic expired as the inmates challenged whether it was proper to keep execution procedures secret.
Arkansas has since found a new supply of vecuronium bromide. But the clock is ticking again: The potassium chloride expires in January; the midazolam expires in April.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Arkansas-says-death-row-inmates-not-entitled-to-8378813.php
