Ohio Judge Bars Executions Using Three-Drug Cocktail, Orders Substitute
Citing a state law, an Ohio judge has barred executions in the state using a three-drug cocktail similar to the one upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Judge James Burge of Elyria ordered the state to substitute a single large dose of barbiturate, the New York Times reports. The execution method is similar to the protocol used in animal euthanasia.
The story says Burge appeared to concede that the state’s three-drug cocktail would be upheld under the Supreme Court’s decision, Baze v. Rees. Instead he based his ruling on a state law requiring executioners to use “a drug or combination of drugs of sufficient dosage to quickly and painlessly cause death.”
Experts told the Times that Burge is the first judge to require a single-injection of a sedative.
