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State Denies Claims That Execution Methods Violate Death Row Inmates' Rights

T Woodard
/
Flickr Creative Commons

Attorneys for the state of Oklahoma deny there is any risk that the drugs and procedures used to execute a death row inmate in April violate the constitutional rights of other prisoners awaiting execution.

In a filing in federal court on Wednesday, the attorney general's office asked a judge to dismiss from the case most of the 21 death row inmates who are seeking to halt any attempt to execute them using the state's current lethal injection protocols. The state says Oklahoma's protocols are under review and subject to change following the botched April 29 lethal injection of Clayton Lockett.

The state also denies many of the claims alleged on behalf of the inmates, including that Oklahoma's current execution procedures present a risk of severe pain and suffering.

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