Supreme Court delays three executions

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to delay the executions of three Oklahoma death row inmates until the justices rule on whether the state’s protocol for lethal injection is constitutional. 

The decision comes one day before the first execution — for inmate Richard Glossip — was scheduled to take place.

{mosads}Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt petitioned the court on Wednesday to stay the executions until it sides with the state or until the Oklahoma Department of Corrections has obtained a viable alternative to midazolam, the experimental drug combination now being used.

The other inmates– John Grant and Benjamin Cole – were scheduled to be executed in the next six weeks. 

Last week, the high court agreed to hear arguments from three death row inmates and decide whether the state’s practices in recent lethal injections amount to cruel and unusual punishment

A botched execution in the state last May pushed President Obama to call for a federal review of the death penalty. According to media reports, Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett, 38, writhed in pain and clenched his teeth before ultimately succumbing to cardiac failure during his execution.