Oklahoma Has Figured Out Its Constitutional Issues, Set To Kill Two Next Tuesday
Oklahoma's government appears to have worked out the state's constitutional issues surrounding the execution of two death row inmates.
Over the past week, Oklahoma's two Supreme Courts (one, the Supreme Court, deals with civil matters and the other, the Court of Criminal Appeals, deal with criminal cases) have been fighting over who has jurisdiction over Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner's lawsuit. The men want the state to reveal the source of the drugs it will be using to execute them; Oklahoma's state law says the identity of executioners must be kept secret. The courts both issued decisions, rooted in the Constitution, that gave the other court responsibility for the case.
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued a stay of execution for both men, saying that it had to rule or else they wouldn't have a court to appeal to, which is also unconstitutional. Yesterday, Gov. Mary Fallin stepped in to protest the court's jurisdiction over the case, then used her own constitutional powers to issue a seven-day stay for Lockett, who was scheduled to be executed last night.
RELATED: Navy Allegedly Fails at Maintaining a Sexual-Harassment-Free Workplace, Email
Today, the Supreme Court made its ruling: the law allowing the drug supplier to remain secret is not unconstitutional and the stays are dissolved.
Fallin's office told Tulsa World that both men will be executed on the same day: April 29.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/04/oklahoma-has-figured-out-its-constitutional-issues-set-to-kill-two-next-tuesday/361147/
Read more from The Wire
• Don't Worry About All Those Gas Well Methane Emissions the EPA Missed
• One of America's First 'Bionic Eyes' Goes to a Former Weightlifter in Michigan
