It’s been more than a decade since Pennsylvania executed an inmate on death row. Although another execution is scheduled for Thursday, it’s possible the execution will not happen and that the chamber at Rockview State Prison will remain empty for some time to come.
There’s a little-known 6-year-old federal class action lawsuit — Chester v Beard — that has the potential to stay all executions in Pennsylvania until it is resolved.
The suit challenges the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s execution protocol; the “class” in the action is composed of all inmates on death row, and there’s a hearing in the case Monday morning.
The immediate relevance is the pending execution of Hubert Michael, whose lawyers have asked the judge for a stay.
Among the issues raised in the Pennsylvania case is the source of drugs to be used in the execution.
Certain drug manufacturers have banned the use of their product in executions, and lawyers for the prisoners argue that if black market or diluted drugs are used, the procedure could be unconstitutional.
The Department of Corrections argues that revealing the source of the drugs could result in the source refusing to sell them the drugs.
Source: pennlive.com, November 4, 2012
