Seven death row inmates in Arkansas have filed a lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court to challenge a law Governor Asa Hutchinson signed Monday. It allows the state to perform executions by injection without revealing the drugs it is using.
Attorney for the inmates, Jeff Rosenzweig, says such a provision is unconstitutional since the state made an agreement in 2013 to disclose the injection drug types.
“We’re seeking to find out where the state is getting this material and from who so we can find out if this is a reputable pharmaceutical manufacturer or some kind of fly by night hack operation,” he said.
The Arkansas Supreme Court recently ruled to reinstate executions after resolving a case surrounding regulations at the Department of Correction.
Arkansas has not performed an execution since 2005.
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office responded to the lawsuit with a brief written statement saying that she is reviewing the court filing and "will continue to defend all legal challenges against Arkansas’s lethal injection law."
