Attorney general urges judge to rule on lawsuit that could resume executions in Kentucky
Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman nudged a Frankfort judge requesting the status of an opinion that could dismiss nearly 20-year-old litigation that paused executions in the commonwealth.
Coleman is arguing that a civil case filed by Ralph Baze, sentenced to death more than 30 years ago for killing two police officers, has dragged on for too long. Dismissing Baze’s civil suit, which questions the constitutionality of the death penalty, would be a “significant victory for the rule of law,” Coleman says.
After a March 30 hearing in which Shepherd heard Coleman’s request to dismiss the case, the judge took the requests under submission, saying that his ruling would come at a later date.
But after more than 90 days passed with no word from his court, Coleman’s office filed a motion to get an update from Shepherd.
Coleman reminded the judge that, in accordance with state law, the Attorney General’s office could bypass the judge and go to the higher courts if he did not rule after so many days.
“As the court well knows, the commonwealth seeks to end this 20-year litigation as expeditiously as possible,” prosecutors wrote in their July filing. “Although the commonwealth could move the court, or our Supreme Court, to compel a ruling on its motion for judgment on the pleadings, the commonwealth believes it is prudent to first ask the court for a status updated on the timing of its ruling.”
The Ralph Baze civil case
The long fight over the legality of Baze’s execution began in 2007, when the U.S. Supreme Court halted capital punishment nationwide as it considered Baze’s appeal.
The Supreme Court eventually allowed executions to resume — and they did in some states, including Kentucky. But not for Baze.
Baze’s civil lawsuit remained ongoing and thus kept him from being executed. In 2010, Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd halted executions in the commonwealth for a second time as part of a ruling on Baze’s case.
One of Shepherd’s main questions was whether Kentucky had proper guardrails in place to avoid executing someone who has an intellectual disability or has been deemed insane by the courts.
During a hearing Wednesday morning, Shepherd said he expects to issue an order “relatively soon.”
He said he appreciated the reminder from the attorney general, and expected a ruling within the next 30 days.
If Shepherd does rule to dismiss the decades-old claims, it could clear the way for Coleman’s effort to reinstate the death penalty.
The death penalty in Kentucky
Baze, now 55, was convicted of killing a sheriff and a deputy in Powell County in 1992. A jury sentenced him to death two years later.
Since Shepherd’s 2010 ruling that halted their client’s execution, Baze’s lawyers have questioned the legality of several parts of Kentucky’s death penalty process, including defendants’ ability to meet with their lawyers, how quickly an IV can be inserted for execution and whether media can be present for executions.
Another question was whether death row inmates need to be able to understand that they were going to die.
Just months after he took office in 2024, Coleman filed a motion asking the Franklin County Circuit Court to reverse its prior decision and end Kentucky’s ban on capital punishment.
Coleman argued that amended regulations were published by the Kentucky Department of Corrections the same year he took office that ensured the state is in full compliance with Shepherd’s 2010 ruling, and the judge’s earlier concerns are now moot.
Last year, Coleman sent two letters to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear requesting he sign a death warrant for Baze and allow an execution date to be set.
But Beshear denied he could sign a death warrant. He said the state lacked access to the drugs necessary to carry out a lethal injection and also needed further clarification on Department of Corrections protocols.
In June, the attorney general joined a 16-state coalition in a letter that asked the federal government to streamline the death penalty process.
