Circuit Court Halts Arizona Execution

On Saturday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked a planned execution in Arizona. The stay will hold at least until the state reveals the source of the drugs to be used in the execution. Arizona was set to execute Joseph Wood on Wednesday. Wood was covicted of killing his estranged girlfriend and her father. Like many states, Arizona has struggled to secure the drugs it normally uses for capital punishment. As a result, it has turned to a new combination, with one of the drugs linked to the "flawed executions” earlier this year in Oklahoma and Ohio. Arizona argued it had no obligation to reveal its drug sources or its executioners' qualifications. However, the 9th Circuit ruled that Wood has a right to know the details of his execution. Referencing the recent series of botched executions, the ruling stated that Arizona's "argument ignores the ongoing and intensifying debate over lethal injection in this country, and the importance of providing specific and detailed information about how safely and reliably the death penalty is administered.”