Kentucky Supreme Court Denies Attorney General’s Request to Remove Injunction on Executions

On October 24, 2024, the Kentucky Supreme Court denied a request by the Attorney General and the Kentucky Department of Corrections (KDOC) to remove an injunction currently prohibiting executions in Kentucky. In 2010, a Franklin County Circuit judge ordered a temporary injunction of all executions due to concerns regarding numerous aspects of Kentucky’s execution protocol, including concerns about the mental status and intellectual disability status of death row prisoners and the state’s lethal injection protocol. The state’s request to dissolve the injunction came after the KDOC completed revising portions of the execution protocol in March 2024.

Following the revision, the Attorney General petitioned to lift the 2010 injunction, but Franklin County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd reserved ruling on the request while the court addresses numerous complex issues remaining around the protocol. Attorney General Robert Coleman sought relief from the higher court to dissolve the injunction. The Kentucky Supreme Court ultimately dismissed the Attorney General’s claim on the grounds it was not appealable.

Both sides have commented on the decision. In response to the ruling, AG Coleman said the decision “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.”  Attorney David Barron, who represents several Kentucky death row prisoners, reminded that “an execution is irreversible. There can be no remedy for a wrongful execution or for an execution carried out though unconstitutional or otherwise invalid execution procedures.” He added that “there remain substantial questions about the validity and constitutionality of Kentucky’s execution procedures.” For Mr. Barron, the “ruling clears the door for the Franklin Circuit Court to resolve those issues, and for any necessary changes to the execution procedures to be made.”

There are currently 25 individuals on Kentucky’s death row. The last execution carried out in Kentucky was in 2008, when Marco Allen Chapman was executed by lethal injection.