Arkansas' lethal-injection sprint dealt two more setbacks

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson
(Image credit: AP Photo/Kelly P. Kissel)

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said Wednesday night he is "both surprised and disappointed" that the Arkansas Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for Stacey Johnson, 47, one of two inmates scheduled to be executed Thursday night, part of the unprecedented eight executions Hutchinson had scheduled before the end of April. The first two executions, set for last Monday night, were blocked by court rulings, and if the Johnson stay isn't lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court, four of the eight inmates will have received temporary reprieves in court. Separately on Wednesday, a county judge blocked the state from using one of the three drugs in its lethal-injection cocktail, putting all of the planned executions in limbo.

The Alabama Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Johnson should be allowed to try to prove his innocence in a 1993 rape-murder using post-conviction DNA testing. A Pulaski County judge rejected a similar request from the other inmate scheduled to be put to death on Thursday, Ledell Lee, whose lawyers also argue he has an intellectual disability.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.