Kentucky hasn’t executed anyone since 2008. Under new ruling, it won’t resume just yet
Executions won’t resume in Kentucky under a decision handed down Thursday by the state Supreme Court.
Instead, the legal fight over capital punishment appears headed back to Franklin Circuit Court in the capital city of Frankfort, where a temporary injunction blocking executions issued by a judge in 2010 might be modified or dropped in the months ahead.
Marco Allen Chapman was the last person executed by the state of Kentucky. Chapman was killed by lethal injection in 2008 for the murder of two children and the rape of their mother.
In March, expressing frustration with long delays as 25 prisoners accumulated on Death Row, Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman filed a motion in Franklin Circuit Court to lift its 2010 injunction.
Coleman said the reasons for Franklin Circuit Chief Judge Phillip Shepherd’s injunction no longer are valid. Most recently, he said, the Department of Corrections addressed concerns about the execution of intellectually disabled people with a new rule shielding inmates with an intellectual disability or an IQ scored at 75 or less.
In May, Shepherd wrote that he would “reserve ruling” on Coleman’s request for now.
The protocols behind the death penalty that he originally criticized have been revised, Shepherd said. But at the same time, he said, “[t]here is no currently active death warrant at issue in this case.” It has not yet been decided whether the revised regulations are constitutional, Shepherd said.
Coleman’s request for relief was appealed to the Supreme Court.
But the high court ruled unanimously Thursday that it’s not in a position at this time to interfere.
The attorney general can ask Shepherd for a hearing in the case and request a definitive ruling on whether his 2010 injunction should be continued or dissolved. If Shepherd refuses to make such a ruling, he can file a writ asking the Supreme Court to force the issue, Justice Kelly Thompson wrote for the court.
Expect the attorney general’s office to act, Coleman said Thursday in a prepared statement.
“The Kentucky Supreme Court sent us back to Franklin Circuit Court to continue our efforts to end the 15-year ban on the lawful imposition of the death penalty. On behalf of the victims’ families who have suffered through a decades-long wait for justice, that’s exactly what we intend to do,” Coleman said.
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 12:56 PM.
