OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — While the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of a sedative Oklahoma uses in lethal injections, Attorney General Scott Pruitt says he'll push to resume executions.
Pruitt said Thursday that if the state can obtain doses of barbiturates Oklahoma has used to execute inmates in the past, he'll ask the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set new execution dates.
That may be difficult, though. Oklahoma switched to the current method it uses when supplies of some drugs dried up.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday delayed three executions, including one that had been scheduled for this week. The court will decide whether the sedative midazolam appropriately renders an inmate unconscious before additional drugs are administered to shut down the lungs and heart.