NEWS FLASH

Federal Judge Blocks Ohio’s First Scheduled Execution Of 2012 | Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Gregory Frost blocked the execution of Ohio inmate Charles Lorraine after Ohio failed to follow its own protocol list regarding lethal injection. Questions about the protocol had delayed previous executions, so Ohio officials issued a set of rules prison staff is supposed to follow step-by-step. Frost slammed Ohio officials for failing to follow their own rules: “It should not be so hard for Ohio to follow procedures that the state itself created. Today’s adverse decision … is again a curiously if not inexplicably self-inflicted wound.” He was referring to employees’ failure to “properly document the drug used and check the medical chart of inmate Reginald Brooks before he was executed on Nov. 15.” Ohio Attorney Mike DeWine (R) will appeal Frost’s decision to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.