Oklahoma’s Lethal Injection Method Ruled Constitutional Following Trial Over Risk Of Painful Death

An Oklahoma federal judge ruled that the three-drug lethal injection method used on the state’s death row inmates is constitutional.

On Monday, Judge Stephen Friot issued a 45-page ruling detailing how the plaintiffs fell “well short” of proving the execution method was unconstitutional due to the level ​​pain and suffering it causes inmates.

During the six-day federal trial, the attorneys of 28 death row inmates claimed midazolam, a sedative and the first drug ​​used in the lethal injection process, did not guarantee a painless death for the inmate.

The lawyers argued that the risk violated the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.

“The prerequisites of a successful lethal injection challenge under the Eighth Amendment have been made clear by the Supreme Court,” Friot wrote.

He added, “The plaintiff inmates have fallen well short of clearing the bar set by the Supreme Court.”

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor agreed that the execution protocols were constitutional.

“The Court’s ruling is definitive: The plaintiffs in this case ‘have fallen well short’ of making their case, and midazolam, as the State has repeatedly shown, ‘can be relied upon … to render the inmate insensate to pain,’” O’Connor said in a statement.

“My team is reviewing the U.S. District Court’s order further and will make a decision regarding when to request execution dates from the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.”

Attorney Jennifer Moreno, who represents one of the death row inmates, said they will explore their options to appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver.

“The district court’s decision ignores the overwhelming evidence presented at trial that Oklahoma’s execution protocol, both as written and as implemented, creates an unacceptable risk that prisoners will experience severe pain and suffering,” Moreno said.

During the trial, James Stronski, an attorney on the inmates’ legal team, argued that prisoners who do not receive proper anesthesia during the lethal injection process would be paralyzed and unable to speak after receiving the second drug.

Stronski claimed the inmate would then suffer excruciating pain from the administration of the final drug, potassium chloride, which is used to stop the heart.

“If this is allowed to continue ... this is a 21st century burning at the stake,” he said at the time.

Prosecutors have argued that the 500-milligram dose of midazolam administered was more than enough to provide a painless death for the inmates.