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Appeals Court: Ohio Lethal Injection Method Constitutional
By: Associated Press
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A federal appeals court says Ohio’s current lethal injection system does not pose an unconstitutional risk of suffering to condemned inmates.
The court says the potential for suffocation posed by the three-drug method does not qualify as the type of “severe pain and needless suffering” prohibited by the Constitution.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in the case of Warren Henness , who was sentenced to die for the 1992 fatal shooting of a volunteer addiction counselor.
Despite the ruling, an unofficial moratorium on executions is likely to continue in Ohio.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine has said Ohio is struggling to find lethal injection supplies amid fears it could be cut off from drugs needed for medicinal purposes if their makers learn they’re also being used for executions.