Arkansas faces new court fight over sedative for executions

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Andrew Demillo, Associated Press Updated 2:34 pm CDT, Saturday, April 20, 2019


LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed by death row inmates has renewed a court fight over whether the sedative Arkansas uses for lethal injections causes torturous executions, two years after the state raced to put eight convicted killers to death in 11 days before a previous batch of the drug expired.

Arkansas recently expanded the secrecy surrounding its lethal injection drug sources, and the case heading to trial Tuesday could impact its efforts to restart executions that have been on hold due to a lack of the drugs. It'll also be the latest in a series of legal battles over midazolam, a sedative that other states have moved away from using amid claims it doesn't render inmates fully unconscious during lethal injections.

States that want to avoid unnecessarily inhumane executions will be watching closely, said Robert Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, which has criticized the way states carry out the death penalty.

But, Dunham added, "states that are watching because they want to figure out how to just execute people will be looking to see what Arkansas is able to get away with."

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Arkansas-faces-new-court-fight-over-sedative-for-13782642.php

[JohnnyRingo]

1. No company wants to be known for selling a death drug.

Not because of morals, but because they peddle that stuff to us as medicine. It's especially bad when the drug fails to work as intended because of incompetence and gets negative press. That really makes the stock tumble.

[Sgent]

2. I've got mixed emotions

I'm against the death penalty in general, but I'd much rather pharmaceuticals be used than hanging -- and honestly I thank this SCOTUS would allow for hanging.

Using technicalities to avoid execution of the sentence seems like a cop out to me -- there are a lot of painless ways to kill someone and it doesn't require a pharmaceutical company to manufacture it -- 99.999% pure Ether will work just as well as one marked for medical use.

[marble falls]

3. Get rid of those mixed emotions. Go with your primary instinct: execution is wrong.