17 April 2017 :

Federal judge temporarily blocks Arkansas plan for successive executions. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker on Saturday temporarily blocked plans by Arkansas to carry out a rapid series of executions this month, after the inmates argued the state’s rush to the death chamber was unconstitutional and reckless. The federal judge, however, provided officials with an opportunity to address her concerns at a hearing Monday. Judge Baker, in a 101-page ruling, found the state’s plan would deny the inmates their legal rights by depriving them of adequate counsel because prison officials allow only a single lawyer to be present for any execution. If the attorney had to rush out to file an emergency petition, it would deprive the inmate of a lawyer to witness the execution, Baker said. “The court finds that plaintiffs are entitled to a preliminary injunction based on their challenge to [the state’s] viewing policies, in their current form, as unreasonable restrictions of plaintiffs’ right to counsel and right of access to the courts,” Baker wrote. Baker ordered lawyers for the state and the death row prisoners to return to court Monday with a revised plan for viewing the executions and having defense counsel present.