Hours before the first execution was scheduled to begin, fights continued on several fronts in state and federal court. [Judges block Arkansas from carrying out series of executions]Although most executions are carried out with little public notice, the scheduled lethal injections in Arkansas have reverberated far beyond the state because of the compressed timetable. “Their guilt — and the justice of their sentences — is beyond dispute,” Arkansas officials said in a federal court filing late Saturday. On Monday, Arkansas officials submitted an execution viewing policy they said allowed death-row inmates to have attorneys present for the entirety of executions. This sedative is expiring at the end of April, Arkansas officials say, necessitating the state’s timetable.

Source: Washington Post April 17, 2017 14:49 UTC