Court tosses suit on execution drug

ST. LOUIS — A state appeals court has rejected a lawsuit over how Missouri obtains its lethal-injection drug, the latest of many challenges to the execution protocol that courts have rejected.

On Tuesday, the Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals cited a technical reason for its decision upholding a lower court’s ruling dismissing the case. The appeals court said the lawsuit failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted.

The plaintiffs — a minister, a nun and two former state lawmakers — argued that Missouri was breaking state and federal law by using an illegal prescription to obtain pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy.

Their attorney, Justin Gelfand, said in a statement that the case raises “profoundly important issues.” He stopped short of saying an appeal would be filed.

The plaintiffs maintained they were not challenging the death penalty, only practices used to obtain the drugs.

Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce dismissed the lawsuit in July 2015, ruling that members of the public don’t have standing to challenge the Department of Corrections’ operations and that the Missouri Supreme Court has jurisdiction in lawsuits related to the death penalty.