USA - Oklahoma. Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol unconstitutional.

Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol unconstitutional. Oklahoma County District Judge Patricia Parrish ruled today that the state's execution procedures were unconstitutional because they do not allow inmates proper access to the courts when it comes to the drugs used in lethal injections. Judge Parrish ruled that the state violated due process protections in the U.S. Constitution by not providing the name of the drug supplier, the combination of chemicals and the dosages used in implementing the death penalty. The judgment comes as more states have trouble obtaining the lethal chemicals used in executions because of restrictions placed on their sale by drugmakers. It also strengthens the arguments made by lawyers that untested chemicals may could cause undo suffering. The Oklahoma case was brought by lawyers for two inmates, Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, who were due to be executed this month but their sentences were pushed back until April because the state said it could not obtain the drugs it has used for years in its lethal cocktail. In response, Oklahoma last week proposed a protocol that would allow the Department of Corrections to choose from 5 potential lethal injection combinations to be used in executions, according to court documents.