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
1 / 3FILE--In this Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016, file photo, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge speaks to reporters at Trump Tower, in New York. A federal lawsuit filed by death row inmates in Arkansas 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 its batch expired.
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." State Attorney General Leslie Rutledge says the inmates in the case have a very high burden to meet and cites a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month against a Missouri death row inmate. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority in that case, wrote that the U.S. Constitution"does not guarantee a prisoner a painless death." Rutledge called the federal case in Arkansas the latest attempt by death row inmates to delay their sentences from being carried out.
Much of the trial over Arkansas' process will focus on midazolam, which critics have said doesn't render inmates fully unconscious before the other lethal injection drugs are administered. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld midazolam's use in executions in 2015, but its use continues to prompt legal challenges nationwide.
Attorneys for a group of death row inmates argue that two of Arkansas' executions in 2017 demonstrate the problems with midazolam. One execution cited is that of convicted murderer Kenneth Williams, who witnesses said lurched and convulsed 20 times before he died. Another inmate, Marcel Williams, arched his back and breathed heavily during his execution, according to a witness.
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