A federal judge is allowing a court battle over whether Arizona can resume executing death row inmates to continue.
The case centers on the inmates’ objections to parts of Arizona’s drug injection method. Late last week U.S. District Judge Neil Wake approved the state’s request to lift a stay that last year put those cases on hold, by agreement between the state and the inmates’ attorneys.
Arizona says it now has the needed execution drugs and the stay should be lifted.
Judge Wake says pending issues include when the inmates’ lawyers will file an updated version of their lawsuit and whether the case can be resolved before the expiration dates on the drugs.
Executions were put on hold after it took over 90 minutes for Joseph Wood to die in July of 2014.