The ink was barely dry on the new lethal injection law before attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging it. The suit asks a federal court to stop the new law from being enforced and to keep four men, who are scheduled to be executed in 2015, from being put to death.
The new law shields drug makers, compounding pharmacies and others who are involved with the execution from having that information made public.
But the lawyers for the four death row inmates say this new law denies first amendment rights of the public. And the attorneys say it is unconstitutional.
The bill was passed in the lame-duck session of the Ohio legislature, and backers of the proposal say it’s a way to continue executions in Ohio.
Attorney General Mike DeWine has said lawmakers need to pass the reforms if Ohio is to resume executions next year, when a court ordered moratorium ends.
