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| Arkansas Rushes to Execute 8 Men in the Space of 10 Days | Arkansas Rushes to Execute 8 Men in the Space of 10 Days |
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| After a 12-year interruption in executions, Arkansas plans an exceptional rush in late April, putting eight men to death over 10 days, before one of the state’s lethal injection drugs reaches its expiration date that month. | |
| The governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, signed proclamations last week in his latest effort to restart the state’s capital punishment program, setting four execution dates for the eight inmates on death row, between April 17 and 27. Two men would be put to death on each of the four dates. | The governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, signed proclamations last week in his latest effort to restart the state’s capital punishment program, setting four execution dates for the eight inmates on death row, between April 17 and 27. Two men would be put to death on each of the four dates. |
| If Arkansas follows through with that timetable, it will be carrying out the death penalty at a rate unmatched by any state since the United States resumed capital punishment in 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment. In 1997, Texas came close, putting eight inmates to death in May and again in June, but not over such a short number of days, the group said. | If Arkansas follows through with that timetable, it will be carrying out the death penalty at a rate unmatched by any state since the United States resumed capital punishment in 1977, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a group that opposes capital punishment. In 1997, Texas came close, putting eight inmates to death in May and again in June, but not over such a short number of days, the group said. |
| The hurried schedule appears to be influenced by the expiration of a lethal injection drug in the state’s supply. Arkansas uses three drugs in executions, and its stock of midazolam, a sedative injected to start of the process, expires in April, the state has said. Its supply of potassium chloride, the final drug in the series, expired in January, but the state has said it was confident it could acquire more. | |
| The rush by Arkansas comes as the number of executions nationwide have steadily declined in recent years, as the 31 states with the death penalty have encountered legal and logistical challenges. | The rush by Arkansas comes as the number of executions nationwide have steadily declined in recent years, as the 31 states with the death penalty have encountered legal and logistical challenges. |
| Across the country, officials in those states, including Arkansas, have struggled to acquire drugs to carry out executions, as pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe have restricted the use of their products in executions. | Across the country, officials in those states, including Arkansas, have struggled to acquire drugs to carry out executions, as pharmaceutical companies in the United States and Europe have restricted the use of their products in executions. |
| Some states have considered different combinations. Arizona even went so far as to allow defense attorneys, if they object to the state’s lethal injection method, to supply their own drugs for the executions of their clients. | Some states have considered different combinations. Arizona even went so far as to allow defense attorneys, if they object to the state’s lethal injection method, to supply their own drugs for the executions of their clients. |
| The eight men scheduled for execution are Kenneth Williams, Bruce Ward, Stacey Johnson, Don Williamson Davis, Ledell Lee, Jack Harold Jones, Jason McGehee, Marcel Williams. They are among 34 inmates on death row in Arkansas. | The eight men scheduled for execution are Kenneth Williams, Bruce Ward, Stacey Johnson, Don Williamson Davis, Ledell Lee, Jack Harold Jones, Jason McGehee, Marcel Williams. They are among 34 inmates on death row in Arkansas. |
| Mr. Hutchinson, a Republican, has tried for years to bring back the state’s death penalty, which had been held up since 2005 over legal challenges to the state’s laws and the difficulty in acquiring the drugs. | |
| In 2015, he scheduled the execution of eight inmates, including many of the same men set to die next month, saying that they had exhausted all of their appeals. But a state court stopped the executions because of a lawsuit against the state over its then secrecy law and the source of Arkansas’ lethal injection drugs. The state was then ordered to disclose information about its supply chain. | In 2015, he scheduled the execution of eight inmates, including many of the same men set to die next month, saying that they had exhausted all of their appeals. But a state court stopped the executions because of a lawsuit against the state over its then secrecy law and the source of Arkansas’ lethal injection drugs. The state was then ordered to disclose information about its supply chain. |
| Mr. Hutchinson’s latest effort to restart executions came after the state’s attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, told him that the eight men had no additional legal challenges to their executions. | Mr. Hutchinson’s latest effort to restart executions came after the state’s attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, told him that the eight men had no additional legal challenges to their executions. |
| “This action is necessary to fulfill the requirement of the law, but it is also important to bring closure to the victims’ families who have lived with the court appeals and uncertainty for a very long time,” Mr. Hutchinson said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. | “This action is necessary to fulfill the requirement of the law, but it is also important to bring closure to the victims’ families who have lived with the court appeals and uncertainty for a very long time,” Mr. Hutchinson said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. |
| The governor’s office and the Arkansas Department of Correction did not immediately return calls for comment. | The governor’s office and the Arkansas Department of Correction did not immediately return calls for comment. |