District judge declares execution law in Oklahoma unconstitutional

On Wednesday, Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish ruled that the current state law that governs executibes violates the US constitution on the grounds that the privacy provision does not allow anyone from knowing what drugs were used to kill death row convicts. Quoting Parrish, the Los Angeles Times have said that this provision prevents courts and inmates from exercising their right to obtain information. The current execution law in Oklahoma prohibits the state from revealing the source of the drugs, even if pressured by an inmate via a lawsuit.

Majority of the states in the US use a three-drug cocktail to execute inmates on death row. Two of the drugs are an anesthetic and a paralyzing agent, The LA Times said.

Parrish's bailiff Chelsea Adkins told the paper when describing the judge's ruling, "The secrecy statute is unconstitutional because it denies both the inmate and the court access to the information."

It is expected that Parrish's ruling will be appealed.

Parrish's ruling was to respond to a request by death row inmates Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, who are set to be executed by the state on April 22 and April 29. The LA Times said that the two have requests in other courts to stay their executions pending.

Executive director Richard Dieter of the Washington-based nonprofit group Death Penalty Information Center said that the district court ruling could set precedent on death penalty legislation across the US.

The issue on the drugs used in executing the condemned was further magnified when witnesses of the execution of Ohio death row inmate Dennis McGuire in January saw the latter gasping and appearing to be in pain as he succumbs to the lethal drugs injected in his system. Lockett and Warner mentioned McGuire's case in their lawsuit, insisting that they will be given an assurance that the drugs that would be used will not violate constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment, The LA Times said.

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Oklahoma execution law, US Constitution

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