Disputes over Louisiana’s execution method weren’t settled by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that a controversial drug can continue to be part of lethal injections.
The high court Monday upheld the use of the sedative midazolam in executions, saying that won’t violate a federal prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
But James Hilburn, a lawyer for the state, says that won’t end an ongoing federal lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s execution protocol. A second drug in the execution method, the painkiller hydromorphone, is also being challenged.
Hilburn says Louisiana doesn’t have any of the lethal injection drugs on hand right now.
The state also doesn’t have any executions scheduled while the litigation is pending. And the next hearing date in the lawsuit has been delayed until July 2016, at the state’s request.