USA - Arkansas. Supreme Court Issues Stay in Lethal Injection Case.

Supreme Court Issues Stay in Lethal Injection Case.The Arkansas Supreme Court has issued a stay of a ruling issued by a Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Thursday on lethal injections. Judge Wendell Griffen ruled that Arkansas' death penalty drug secrecy law violates the state constitution. The state requested the stay in the case which involves a lawsuit filed by a group of death row inmates. Their suit challenges the 2015 death penalty law and a clause that allows Arkansas to keep the drugs used in its lethal injection process a secret. Wendell's ruling stated that the provision making the drugs secret violates the state constitution and declared it null and void immediately. The state had argued it needed to keep lethal injection drug information secret because if drug sources were revealed, it would make it difficult to purchase the execution drugs. The Supreme Court issued a temporary stay and set a 25-day briefing schedule on the issue of whether a stay should remain in effect while the larger issues are tried before Judge Griffen.