No active stays exist to prohibit Arkansas from carrying out eight executions next month, the state Supreme Court clarified Thursday in a one-page order.
Responding to another appeal in the nearly 2-year-old challenge of Arkansas' execution statutes, the court said that when it issued its mandate last week after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to take the inmates' case, that mandate removed a stay placed in 2015 on the prisoners' executions.
The stay in question was issued while the inmates' legal challenges moved through state courts.
Upon issuing its mandate Feb. 24, the state court also removed a 2016 stay that had been issued when the Arkansas justices upheld the constitutionality of the state's execution protocol. That stay was in place while the prisoners took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Last week's mandate prompted Attorney General Leslie Rutledge to ask Gov. Asa Hutchinson to schedule the inmates' deaths, now scheduled for April. Meanwhile, the inmates' attorneys sought to place the executions on hold.
In a letter set Monday to Hutchinson, the inmates' federal public defender, John Williams, said the 2015 state court stay remained in effect.
Rutledge's office quickly said that no such stay exists, but her office asked the state Supreme Court for clarification. The inmates then asked for an oral hearing to decide the matter.
In a split decision Thursday, the high court clarified its position: no stay exists, no hearing is necessary.
In a statement, Rutledge's office praised the court's ruling as a victory for the families of the victims of the convicted killers.
Jeff Rosenzweig, a Little Rock attorney who represents the inmates, said he was "disappointed" by the court's decision. He pointed out that two of the justices, Courtney Goodson and Josephine Hart, said they would have denied Rutledge's request for clarification.
As for any further appeals, Rosenzweig said his team is discussing its options.
"My office is prepared to respond to any and all challenges that might occur between now and the execution dates," Rutledge's statement said.
The executions set by the governor earlier this week are scheduled to be conducted between April 17 and April 27.
The prisoners' appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court had argued that the state's three-drug protocol of execution -- using midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride -- would cause pain amounting to cruel and unusual punishment. Midazolam, a sedative, has been linked to botched executions in several other states.
Metro on 03/03/2017