Supreme Court Effectively Haults Ohio Executions

A U.S. Supreme Court decision on Wednesday has effectively put executions on hold in Ohio.

Until Ohio revises its lethal injection procedures to the satisfaction of a federal judge on the case, no more inmates will be executed, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine acknowledged.

"I can't predict what is going to happen," said DeWine, whose office represents Gov. John Kasich and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. "The next scheduled execution is for April, and so that's a little ways off, and we'll just see what happens between now and then."

Kasich and DRC had appealed two federal court rulings that had blocked the scheduled Jan. 18 execution of a Trumbull County double murderer. But the Supreme Court, without explanation, declined to hear the case, letting the lower court rulings stand.

That means the stay of execution granted to Charles Lorraine by a district judge and upheld by a federal appeals panel will remain in place. Lorraine is one of about a dozen death row inmates suing the state, claiming Ohio's lethal injection procedures are unconstitutional.

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