Appeals court ruling opens door to Ohio resuming executions
CINCINNATI — Ohio moved a step closer to resuming executions as a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday in the state’s favour in a case over its lethal injection process.
In an 8-6 vote, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati reversed a judge’s order that delayed three executions after he declared Ohio’s lethal injection process unconstitutional. The three-drug method includes midazolam, a sedative involved in problematic executions in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Ohio and Oklahoma.
The 6th Circuit ruling clears the way for the state to move forward with the three executions. But it isn’t a decisive ruling on the constitutionality of the three-drug method, according to Allen Bohnert, a public defender representing death row inmates. Bohnert said they plan to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
JoEllen Smith, a spokeswoman for Ohio’s prisons agency, said the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction “remains committed to carrying out court-ordered executions in a lawful, humane and dignified manner.”