Arkansas rushes to execute 7 inmates before lethal drug expires

[rockin'robin]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- If the state of Arkansas has its way, seven convicted murderers will be dead by the end of April. Last week, a state parole board considered clemency but allowed five executions to move forward. Two other inmates declined to contest their death sentences. Defense lawyers like Jeff Rozensweig appealed to a federal judge to decide whether the rush to execute constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, especially the state’s planned use of a controversial drug called midazolam. It’s a sedative used to put inmates to sleep before chemicals are injected to stop their hearts. “This sort of reeks of an assembly line or, as one of the local papers put it, a ‘killing spree,’” said ...

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https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/9aeeb8...bfdb3c1d/ss_arkansas-rushes-to-execute-7.html