Ohio-Kentucky death penalty update

Ohio is one of the 38 states in this country with the death penalty on its books, along with Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania. Among those 38, Illinois is in the seventh year of a death penalty moratorium, ordered by then-Gov. George Ryan; the State of New York is under a court-ordered moratorium since its high court declared its death penalty unconstitutional in 2004; and eight other states, Ohio included, have stayed further executions temporarily.

Newly-elected Ohio Governor Ted Strickland indicated cautionary feelings soon after taking office Jan. 8st., saying that he had “some concerns” about the death penalty’s effect on both “society as a whole” and “those actually charged with carrying out the execution.” His staying the executions of Kenneth Bios, James Filiaggi, and Christopher Newton reflects those concerns, although Ohio isn’t necessarily moving toward a moratorium of its own according to the Enquirer this past weekend. That isn’t to say, though, that the area isn’t something to be being watched in the growing national death penalty debate.

Last summer Ohio made modifications to the manner in which it administered lethal injections after the problematic execution of Joseph Clark in May. (Article)

A case filed in Ohio Southern District Court in behalf of Richard Cooey in December 2004, joined over the past two years by eight additional inmates, “challenges Ohio’s protocol for executing capital thru lethal injection.” Kenneth Bios, one of the inmates whose execution was stayed by Gov. Strickland, is one of the now intervening parties to that action. The case is still pending. (See Here)

Meanwhile, in Kentucky’s Eastern Division District Court last week, three inmates filed a suit claiming lethal injection violates federal law because doctors don’t administer the drugs and that under the Controlled Substance and federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Acts only doctors can buy or prescribe sodium thiopental, one of those used in executions. They also state that sodium thiopental is a “schedule III,” controlled substance not approved by the Federal Food & Drug Administration. Their appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court last year was lost. (Note: case loads slow).