LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled today that the state's executional law was unconstitutional and therefore must be forfeited.
In 2010 ten death row inmates in Arkansas filed suit against the Department of Correction claiming that under the state's constitution the authority to set execution policy rested with the legislature and not with the corrections department, even though the legislature handed over that authority to the department in 2009.
Friday the State's apex court agreed ruled in a 5-2 decision with inmates and struck down the execution law as unconstitutional.
Justice Jim Gunter in the majority decision stated, "It is evident to this court that the Legislature has abdicated its responsibility and passed to the executive branch, in this case the (Arkansas Department of Correction), the unfettered discretion to determine all protocol and procedures, most notably the chemicals to be used, for a state execution," as reported by AP.
However, the ruling does not put an end to the death penalty, as Arkansas prison spokeswoman, Dina Tyler "The justices did not declare that the death penalty is unconstitutional in Arkansas or that lethal injection is unconstitutional...What the court is talking about are the mechanics," according to AP.
Currently there are 40 inmates awaiting the death sentence, the impact of the ruling on their fate is still undetermined. The state has not put anyone to death since 2005.
The Governor of Arkansas, Mike Bebe, said ""The death penalty is still the law in Arkansas, but the Department of Correction now has no legal way to carry out an execution until a new statute is established," according to the AP.
The governor is hoping to find a solution within the next few months.
