ABA president asks Arkansas governor to ensure due process in execution schedule

CHICAGO, April 11, 2017 — ABA President Linda A. Klein has written Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, asking him to delay an accelerated schedule of executions this month to ensure that they “are carried out with due process of law.”

“We are troubled that this current execution schedule appears not to allow for these necessary safeguards and prioritizes expediency above due process,” Klein said in the letter. “Because neither Arkansas decision-makers nor defense counsel currently have adequate time to ensure that these executions are carried out with due process of law, we simply ask that you modify the current execution schedule to allow for adequate time between executions.”

Arkansas plans to begin a schedule of seven executions starting April 17 because of a looming expiration date for a drug used by the state for lethal injections. In her letter, Klein noted that the ABA takes no position on the death penalty itself, but has long-standing policy supporting sufficient procedural safeguards to decrease the risks of injustice in death penalty cases.

Please click here for a bio of President Klein.

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