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Ohio’s use of
Lethal Injection is unconstitutional, says ACLU
Elyria:
The ACLU of
Ohio
is challenging
Ohio’s
administration of lethal injection as unconstitutional in the
Lorain County Court of Common Pleas in Elyria,
OH.
An evidentiary hearing in the cases was scheduled for Monday,
April 7, 2008 and
Tuesday,
April 8, 2008, with testimony before Judge James Burge.
The cases are State v. Rivera
and State v. McCloud.
The ACLU of Ohio represents
the defendants in their argument that Ohio’s method of carrying
out lethal injections is unconstitutional because it is likely to
result in inmates being, in effect, tortured to death.
Lethal injection procedures do not always run smoothly.
Ohio
has a demonstrated record of incompetence in the administration of
lethal injection. It is likely that many
Ohio death row inmates
suffer excruciating, torturous pain during executions. That likely
pain violates the federal and state constitutions, which forbid
cruel and unusual punishment and violate
Ohio’s
statutory requirement that death be administered “quickly and
painlessly.”
Lethal injection is
Ohio’s
only method of execution, and if it cannot be performed lawfully,
then the judge cannot impose the death penalty. These are the
first cases in the nation to address these questions before trial
and to have the possibility of precluding the death penalty
completely.
This is also the first time an
Ohio
court will consider expert testimony on how executions are
performed in
Ohio. |
