By C1 Staff
MIAMI — Florida executions are on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether midazolam counts as “cruel and unusual” punishment.
The Supreme Court placed the execution of Jerry William Correll on hold while it hears a challenge that 21 Oklahoma inmates have brought against the lethal injection drugs used in their state, according to Al Jazeera.
Florida uses the same three-drug combination with midazolam hydrochlorides, which it recently switched to in 2013 after foreign drug manufacturers stopped supplying other drugs previously used in executions.
Chief Justice Jorge Labarga wrote that if the nation’s highest court rules in favor of the prisoners, “then Florida’s precedent approving the use of midazolam and the current Florida three-drug protocol will be subject to serious doubt as to its continued viability.”
Justices Charles Canady and Ricky Polston dissented, saying Florida should proceed with Correll’s execution unless the U.S. Supreme Court stays it.
Canady wrote that a stay in another state does not automatically require one in Florida, and that agreeing to review Oklahoma’s use of the drug means the justices will forbid it.
Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, said the Supreme Court appeal is a toss-up.
“They might affirm it,” he said. “But it would be terrible to go ahead with an execution when the person’s life or death depends solely on his having a date between the Supreme Court agreeing to hear the case and its decision in that case.”
Correll was convicted of the 1985 murders of his ex-wife, five-year-old daughter and former mother-in-law and sister-in-law.