There will be no executions for Arkansas' death-row inmates, until a new supply of lethal drugs can be acquired.
EXECUTIONS: In-depth look at 4 men put to death in April + 3 others whose executions were stayed
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The state's supply of vecuronium bromide -- a muscle relaxant that is one of the three killing drugs prescribed by state law -- expired at midnight Thursday.
With no immediate replacement on hand, the head of the state's prisons, Wendy Kelley, said there would be no executions in the near future.
"[The bromide] expires today," Kelley said Thursday. "As soon as we have any [replacement drugs], we'll let [the media] all know."
Kelley and another prison official submitted affidavits to a Pulaski County Circuit Court last year stating that her agency has not had any luck in acquiring replacement drugs.
The vendor that sold the current supply of execution drugs to prison officials has refused to sell again, according to court records.
On Thursday, Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who signed the state's current execution law last spring, said prison officials should continue to seek new sources.
Hutchinson said "it is unknown" whether the hunt for a new drug supply will be fruitful. He said he was encouraged by last week's Arkansas Supreme Court decision that validated the execution law, one which protects the identities of drug suppliers from public disclosure.
"I am confident that, because of the Supreme Court decision, and the confidentiality that is assured, that it's going to be much easier or a likely possibility, so let's just wait and see," Hutchinson said. "Let's just wait and see. We'll take it a step at a time. We are going to do things right. ... We recognize that this has been lingering on way too far for the victims and their families and so the Supreme Court has given the green light on it ... but we'll take it a step at a time."
Because of a decade of legal challenges, and shortages of lethal injection drugs, Arkansas hasn't executed an inmate since 2005.
Prison officials and supporters of the secrecy provisions in Act 1096 of 2015 -- the state law on executions -- argued secrecy was necessary because lethal drug suppliers are fearful of backlash.
Last September, Hutchinson set execution dates for eight inmates, prompting a lawsuit filed in Pulaski County by attorney Jeff Rosenzweig, representing the eight inmates, as well as another man on death row.
Rosenzweig argued that by relying on midazolam-- an anesthetic tied to botched executions in other states -- his clients ran the risk of dying by "cruel or unusual" means, which is unconstitutional. He also argued that the disclosure prohibitions were unconstitutional.
Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen ruled in December that the nondisclosure language was unconstitutional. But on June 23, Griffen's ruling was reversed and the law was deemed valid in a 4-3 ruling by the state Supreme Court.
On June 24, Attorney General Leslie Rutledge elected not to ask the high court to expedite its mandate, an order enforcing the June 23 ruling. Once the mandate is issued, she can ask the governor to set new execution dates.
On Thursday, Rosenzweig said that although executions are halted at the moment, he will petition the high court for a rehearing.
"The issues [in the law] go beyond whether or not there's an expiration date of a particular drug. ... We were disappointed the court ruled the way it did," Rosenzweig said. "Obviously we're gratified our clients are still alive. But we're continuing to work and will file a petition for a rehearing to point out some flaws we think are in the court majority's reasoning and hope they will consider it seriously."
Hutchinson said that, despite the difficulty in obtaining execution drugs, he is happy with the state's current law because the drug protocol it proscribes has been "tested in the courts."
The use of midazolam in executions was OK'd by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015 after a challenge from Oklahoma.
"You don't want to deviate from what's already been tested and approved," Hutchinson said. "[Otherwise] you are starting all over again, so I suspect that we'll stick with that formula."
Kelley said she has not had any recent discussions with Hutchinson's office about any alternative means of conducting executions in the future.
A Section on 07/01/2016