Appeals court vacates order halting executions in Mississippi

Source: Reuters

Appeals court vacates order halting executions in Mississippi

Reuters
By Colleen Jenkins
1 hour ago

(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Wednesday reversed a decision that halted executions in Mississippi, finding a lower court abused its discretion when it blocked the use of certain lethal injection drugs.

The ruling upholds the three-drug protocol proposed by Mississippi as it and other states struggle to obtain the chemicals needed to enforce the death penalty. But executions in the state are unlikely to restart immediately, according to a lawyer for two death row inmates challenging the protocol.

The inmates will seek further injunctions against the protocol on other legal grounds and could request a review of the case by the full 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, said their lawyer, Jim Craig.

"We haven’t made that decision yet," said Craig, co-director of the Roderick and Solange MacArthur Justice Center in New Orleans.

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