Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol unconstitutional: judge

By Heide Brandes OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) – An Oklahoma judge ruled on Wednesday that the state’s execution procedures were unconstitutional because they do not allow inmates proper access to the courts when it comes to the drugs used in lethal injections. County district court judge Patricia Parrish ruled that the state violated due process protections in the U.S. Constitution by not providing the name of the drug supplier, the combination of chemicals and the dosages used in implementing the death penalty. The judgment comes as more states have trouble obtaining the lethal chemicals used in executions because of restrictions placed on their sale by drugmakers. The Oklahoma case was brought by lawyers for two inmates, Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, who were due to be executed this month but their sentences were pushed back until April because the state said it could not obtain the drugs it has used for years in its lethal cocktail.