(AP) – An Arkansas judge prohibited from hearing execution
cases said he remains as committed to the law and his First Amendment right to express his “moral and religious” opposition to the death penalty as he was a year ago when he was disqualified for participating in an anti-capital punishment demonstration.Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen said in a statement Wednesday
that his resolve and hope are “stronger than ever,” the day after he re-enacted his anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor’s mansion. Griffen on Tuesday night lay down on a cot during a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of Arkansas putting four inmates to death.
cases said he remains as committed to the law and his First Amendment right to express his “moral and religious” opposition to the death penalty as he was a year ago when he was disqualified for participating in an anti-capital punishment demonstration.Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen said in a statement Wednesday
that his resolve and hope are “stronger than ever,” the day after he re-enacted his anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor’s mansion. Griffen on Tuesday night lay down on a cot during a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of Arkansas putting four inmates to death.
The state Supreme Court prohibited Griffen from hearing death penalty related cases last year after the judge participated in an identical demonstration.
Griffen is suing the high court’s justices over the disqualification, saying it violated his constitutional rights.
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