LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – Arkansas’ governor has named seven special justices to
hear an effort by members of the state Supreme Court to halt ethics charges they
face for their decision to prevent a judge who participated in a death penalty
demonstration from handling any execution-related cases.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed seven people Thursday to fill in for the
justices, who have filed a lawsuit challenging a disciplinary panel’s decision
to charge them with ethics violations.
The justices last year disqualified Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell
Griffen from execution cases after he was photographed strapped to a cot outside
the governor’s mansion the same day he prevented Arkansas from using a lethal
injection drug. The panel says the high court never gave Griffen notice or an
opportunity to be heard over his removal.
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