More Inmates Challenge Lethal Injection

The Cincinnati Post reports that the number of Ohio inmates who are challenging the process of lethal injection as capital punishment is growing, bringing the current total to 20. Last week, Columbus Federal District Court Judge Gregory Frost allowed 5 more inmates to join the lawsuit (Case No. 2204-cv-00920)  that the Ohio Public Defender filed in 2004, challenging lethal injection in Ohio. Click here to access PACER for the docket and pleadings in the case. Although the state claims otherwise,Judge Frost ruled that the inmates met a joinder deadline established in the lawsuit, which has been pending since 2004.  According to the article, which was reprinted in the Daily Legal News, this suit is related to an action Attorney General Marc Dann recently filed in the Ohio Supreme Court (Case No. 2007-1576) to prohibit a Lorain county judge from ordering the disclosure of Ohio's execution process. Click here to read a copy of the Complaint for a Writ of Prohibition against Judge Burge, and click here for the docket in the case.