Inmates ask Arkansas court to void orders setting executions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Attorneys for eight Arkansas death row inmates scheduled to be put to death next month are asking the state's highest court to void Gov. Asa Hutchinson's orders setting their execution dates.

The inmates asked the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to invalidate the proclamations scheduling their executions. On Monday, Hutchinson set four double executions during a 10-day period in April, though the state is lacking one of the drugs needed to put the men to death.

The inmates' attorneys say a stay blocking the executions is still in place while an amended complaint challenging Arkansas' lethal injection law is pending in a Pulaski County court. The state asked the court Monday to clarify that the stay on executions had been lifted.

The inmates also requested oral arguments before the court.