FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS ADVISORY
June 29, 2015
For More Information, contact:
Luther Strange
Mike Lewis (334) 353-2199
Alabama Attorney General
Joy Patterson (334) 242-7491
Page 1 of 1
ATTORNEY GENERAL STRANGE STATEMENT ON U.S. SUPREME COURT
RULING IN FAVOR OF OKLAHOMA’S LETHAL INJECTION DRUGS
(MONTGOMERY) – Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange welcomed the U.S.
Supreme Court’s decision in Glossip v Gross, ruling in favor of Oklahoma’s lethal
injection drug protocol. The decision is expected to clear the way for Alabama and
other states to resume executions using lethal injections.
“Opponents of lethal injections have repeatedly used court challenges of certain lethal
injection drugs as ways to delay or avoid lawful executions,” Attorney General Strange
said. “The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed our belief that executions using these lethal
injection drugs are not cruel and unusual punishment, and therefore are not prohibited
under the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.”
Alabama wrote an amicus brief joined by 12 other states in support of Oklahoma’s right
to use a three-drug lethal injection protocol. States, including Alabama, have adopted
the three-drug protocol because of their inability to acquire other suitable drugs.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has spoken on the constitutionality of states’ use of lethal
injections and death penalty opponents cannot continue to indefinitely delay lawful
executions.”
The states joining Alabama in the amicus brief were Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut,
Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.
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