Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson set the execution schedule because one of the three drugs used in Arkansas executions, the sedative midazolam, expires at month's end. Texas sued in January for the drug's release, saying in its lawsuit that it was importing the sodium thiopental for legal executions. Sodium thiopental renders a person unconscious and was a staple of lethal injection mixes but has not been made in the United States for several years. Nebraska, South Dakota, Ohio, Arizona and Texas tried to import sodium thiopental from India between 2010 and 2015, according to court records and news media reports, but federal regulators blocked the moves. Previous attempts to import the drug have also been blocked by federal courts after challenges from death row inmates.

Source: CBC News April 21, 2017 05:49 UTC