Ohio Judge to Review State's Execution Protocol

The Ohio Supreme Court will allow a judge to hold a hearing on the constitutionality of the state's lethal injection law. Previously, the state sued to prevent Judge James Burge from holding a hearing about the state's lethal injection process. The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction will now have to turn over documents about how it performs lethal injections.

Jeffery Gamso, Legal Director of the ACLU of Ohio, stated that "[t]he decision means the state can no longer hide the process it uses for putting inmates to death." Gamso represents a person challenging the constitutionality of Ohio's lethal injection process.

Ohio is not the only state that does not want to provide its lethal injunction protocol. Many states across the country are secretive about their processes. In fact, they work quite hard to prevent defense lawyers and their own citizens from finding out about this common method of execution.