Editor Brian Harrod Provides Comprehensive up-to-date news coverage, with aggregated news from sources all over the world from the Roundup Newswires Network
Arkansas has said it will appeal a court ruling that bars the U.S. state's use of a lethal injection drug and effectively puts a stop to its plans to execute eight prisoners in 11 days. A state circuit judge issued the temporary restraining order on Wednesday after the U.S. pharmaceutical firm McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc accused the state of obtaining the muscle relaxant vecuronium bromide under false pretences.
The legal fight in Arkansas , which last put someone to death 12 years ago, came after the number of USA executions fell to a quarter-century low in 2016. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled that judge, stating in its opinion that there's only "equivocal evidence" that midazolam will raise the risk of a painful execution.
In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.
Arkansas' attempt to carry out its first execution in nearly 12 years wasn't thwarted by the type of liberal activist judge Republicans regularly bemoan here, but instead by a state Supreme Court that's been the focus of expensive campaigns by conservative groups to reshape the judiciary. The court voted 4-3 Monday night to stay the executions of two inmates who were part of an unprecedented plan to put eight men to death in 11 days.
In this Monday evening, April 17, 2017 photo, the sun sets behind clouds over an Arkansas State Police command post outside the Varner Unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction near Varner, Ark. As state officials prepare to carry out a double execution Thursday ahead of a drug expiration deadline and despite the setback the U.S. Supreme Court delivered late Monday, lawyers for those condemned men look to be taking a different approach: claiming the prisoners are actually innocent.
The suicide of former NFL star and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez is an occasion for thinking about the policy of sentencing people to sentences of life without parole. One of the less noted perversities of capital punishment is that it deflects attention from this subject.
Lawyers for Arkansas inmates condemned to die Thursday in a planned double execution are claiming they are innocent and one of them says advanced DNA techniques could show he didn't kill a woman in 1993. Their strategy to win stays of execution is in marked contrast to the first two inmates who faced the death chamber in Arkansas and were spared Monday by arguing they should not be put to death because of mental health issues.
Arkansas' rush to wholesale executions: Our view Despite 11th-hour rulings, double executions are slated for both this week and next. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: http://usat.ly/2pzeatV The beat-the-clock spectacle unfolding in Arkansas, triggered by the state's unprecedented scheme to carry out wholesale executions before the shelf life of a lethal injection drug expires, demonstrates more than ever how the death penalty in America is becoming less and less workable.
The US Supreme Court has spared the life of an Arkansas inmate at the last minute, scuttling efforts to resume the death penalty in the state after nearly 12 years with a plan to carry out four double executions before its supply of a lethal injection drug expired. The court's decision to maintain the stay for Don Davis capped a chaotic day of legal wrangling in state and federal courts to clear the primary obstacles Arkansas faced to carrying out its first executions since 2005.
A divided Arkansas Supreme Court granted stays of executions for two Arkansas inmates while the U.S. Supreme Court takes up a separate case next week concerning access to independent mental health experts by defendants. The Arkansas court ruled 4-3 Monday to block the executions for Bruce Ward and Don Davis, who were originally scheduled to be put to death Monday night, though stays had been issued in separate court cases challenging their executions and six others planned this month.
People gather at a rally opposing the state's upcoming executions, on the front steps of Arkansas' Capitol, Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark. People gather at a rally opposing the state's upcoming executions, on the front steps of Arkansas' Capitol, Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark.
People gather at a rally opposing the state's upcoming executions, on the front steps of Arkansas' Capitol, Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark. Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions.
Inmates Bruce Ward , Don Davis, Ledell Lee, Stacy Johnson, Jack Jones , Marcel Williams, Kenneth Williams and Jason Mcgehee are shown in these booking photo provided March 21, 2017. The eight are scheduled to be executed by lethal injection in Arkansas, beginning April 17, 2017.
Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions. Actor Johnny Depp greets someone as he walks to the podium to speak at a rally opposing Arkansas' upcoming executions, which are set to begin next week, on the front steps of the Capitol Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark.
All eight executions in Arkansas were on hold as of Sunday, but if they resume this week as originally planned, state officials want convicted murderer Bruce Earl Ward back on the list. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed an appeal late Saturday asking the Arkansas Supreme Court to vacate its Friday order granting a stay of execution for Ward, who had been slated to die Monday.
Griffen issued ... . Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions.
To continue reading up to 10 premium articles, you must register , or sign up and take advantage of this exclusive offer: Protesters gather outside the state Capitol building on Friday, April 14, 2017, in Little Rock, Ark., to voice their opposition to Arkansas' seven upcoming executions. LITTLE ROCK, Ark.
A federal judge dealt another blow Saturday to Arkansas' unprecedented plan to execute eight inmates in an 11-day period, saying the men have the right to challenge a drug protocol that could expose them to "severe pain." The state still hopes to begin the executions Monday and the attorney general's office promised an appeal to overturn U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker's order.
Despite several court rulings that put its plans in jeopardy, Arkansas hopes to go ahead with the executions of six men between Monday and April 27, which would be a pace exceeded only by Texas since the U.S. Supreme Court reauthorized the death penalty in 1976. Arkansas initially planned to execute eight inmates before the end of the month, when its supply of a key execution drug expires.