Jordyn Chapman- Arkansas Fights to Carry Out Unprecedented Wave of Executions

Summary: On the eve of what Arkansas officials hope will be the state’s first executions in more than a decade, they faced off with death-row inmates in multiple legal battles over whether these lethal injections would take place as scheduled. At the heart of the fight is an unprecedented flurry of executions that have pushed Arkansas to the forefront of the American death penalty at a time when states are increasingly retreating from the practice. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) scheduled eight lethal injections to take place over an 11-day window, a pace unmatched in the modern era, which he defended as needed because one of the state’s drugs is expiring this month and no replacement could be guaranteed amid an ongoing shortage. Hours before the first execution was scheduled to begin, fights continued on several fronts in state and federal court. A federal judge issued an order over Easter weekend staying all the executions, while other court orders had already stayed individual executions and barred the state from using another of its lethal-injection drugs. On Friday afternoon, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an order staying Ward’s execution without explanation. In a petition to that court, Ward’s attorneys described him as a diagnosed schizophrenic who has spent decades in solitary confinement without treatment for his mental illness and argued that he was not competent to be executed. Arkansas has appealed, seeking to have that stay vacated. The Arkansas Supreme Court vacated its earlier order and issued another staying the execution, again offering no explanation, but noting this time that three of the seven justices would have rejected the stay request. A federal judge had earlier this month called off another of the scheduled executions after a state parole board said it would recommend changing that inmate’s sentence to life in prison without parole.
Analysis: This article was published on April 17, 2017 by Mark Berman onto the Washington Post. Mark Berman covers national news for The Washington Post and anchors Post Nation, a destination for breaking news and stories from around the country. He started at The Post in 2007 and was previously a reporter on the Metro staff. Mark is a Florida man.
Prior to reading this article, I knew there was still utilization of lethal injection, but I didn't know there were more federal and state battles over it, let alone in Arkansas. The author placed unbiased facts about the legal battle, giving good light upon it. I think it was written for audiences in America for the purpose of causing people to think about whether or not the death penalty should've been the option so out of the blue.
Synthesis- This article is related to the various instance of whether or not the death penalty would be deemed constitutional. In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty systems then in place were unconstitutional violations of the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual” punishments. In response to the decision many states changed their death penalty systems. Four years later in Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Court reaffirmed the death penalty as constitutional.
Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/04/17/arkansas-fights-to-carry-out-unprecedented-wave-of-executions/?utm_term=.4b3b3f822208