Arkansas executions set for Thursday, but legal issues looming

LITTLE ROCK— Arkansas remains hopeful it can execute five inmates before the end of the month after courts blocked the state from putting two men to death Monday night.

The inmates are fighting their executions on multiple legal fronts, but there are currently no stays in place for five who are set to die this month as the state rushes to beat an expiration date for one of its lethal drugs. The next executions are scheduled for Thursday.

Here is a look at the legal landscape as Arkansas pushes forward with its execution plan:

Is Arkansas cleared to move ahead?

At this point, yes, in five of the executions: for Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee, scheduled to die Thursday night; for Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, set for lethal injection April 24; and for Kenneth Williams, scheduled for execution April 27.

Bruce Ward and Don Davis, who were to be executed Monday night, won stays from the Arkansas Supreme Court and the state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Davis but not Ward. The U.S. Supreme Court then opted not to lift the stay for Davis.

A spokesman for Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Tuesday that the state will make

its arguments in the cases involving Davis and Ward before the state Supreme Court but will follow the current briefing schedule that the court has set, with deadlines into late May. Under that timeline, the state would be unable to execute Ward and Davis before its supply of midazolam expires April 30.

An eighth inmate, Jason McGehee, previously won a stay from a federal judge regarding his clemency schedule, and Arkansas has not appealed that ruling.