Deborah Denno was quoted in the Missoula Independent about Montana judge Jeffrey Sherlock’s ruling on pentobarbital, a drug used in the state’s lethal injections.
The fact that Evans’ testimony had prevailed in the country’s highest court despite questions about its validity underscores what Fordham University law professor and death penalty expert Deborah Denno says is the “extraordinary” nature of Sherlock’s ruling in Montana.
“Some courts haven’t paid much attention to what the statute says,” Denno says. “Based on the testimony, (Sherlock) could have said, ‘It’s fast enough.'”
The distinction isn’t semantics to critics of the death penalty. As manufacturers have cut off supplies of traditional lethal injection drugs, states are scrambling to find alternative cocktails. Denno notes this tactic has led to a flurry of lawsuits like the one in Montana, and numerous botched executions that end with prisoners writhing in pain.