Lawyers for eight death row inmates in Arkansas say their challenge of the state's execution procedures should warrant a U.S. Supreme Court review that would likely revisit the high court's ruling on an Oklahoma case.
The Arkansas Supreme Court ruled against the inmates last month, but their lawyers want the court to withhold a final order pending a possible U.S. Supreme Court review. Part of the Arkansas ruling was based on the U.S. Supreme Court approving the use of midazolam in executions.
Amid a challenge over the sedative, Oklahoma executed one prisoner with a drug not listed on its protocol and later nearly executed a second inmate.
The Arkansas inmates' lawyers filed papers late Monday saying the U.S. Supreme Court has a good reason to revisit the Oklahoma case.
