US, state courts halt Arkansas executions

AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel

In a series of see-saw legal battles, from the U.S. Supreme Court to state courts, so far Arkansas authorities have been prevented from implementing plans to execute eight prisoners over an 11-day period, the first executions scheduled there in more than a decade. First, federal District Judge Kristine Baker issued a preliminary injunction April 15, saying the proposed method of execution could expose them to “severe pain,” violating the Eighth Amendment protection against “cruel and unusual” punishment.

The day before the judge’s ruling, supporters of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty rallied by the state Capitol in Little Rock, above.

At issue is use of midazolam, a sedative that is supposed to render inmates unconscious while two other drugs paralyze and kill them. Use of midazolam has led to botched executions with prolonged torture in at least four states: Alabama, Arizona, Ohio and Oklahoma.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson rushed to set all the executions for April because the state’s supply of midazolam expires at the end of the month.

The U.S. Circuit Court in St. Louis overturned Baker’s ruling. Then the U.S. Supreme Court and state Supreme Court put stays on the first two executions, preventing them from taking place April 17. Two other executions were put off earlier by court rulings.

— BRIAN WILLIAMS