LITTLE ROCK, Ark.—A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld Arkansas’ use of the sedative midazolam in its lethal injections.
A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court judge’s ruling upholding the state’s execution process. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker in 2020 ruled that the state’s use of midazolam in injections is constitutional and dismissed claims that less painful methods of execution are available.
“With no scientific consensus and a paucity of reliable scientific evidence concerning the effect of large doses of midazolam on humans, the district court did not clearly err in finding that the prisoners failed to demonstrate that the Arkansas execution protocol is sure or very likely to cause severe pain,” the appeals panel said in its ruling….