By Adam Allington, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding Kentucky's use of lethal injections, two of Missouri's top elected officials want to proceed with all pending death penalty cases.
Governor Matt Blunt and Attorney General Jay Nixon are both urging the state supreme court to begin scheduling executions.
Both the Democratic attorney general and the Republican governor are urging the state supreme court to bring closure to the victims' families by proceeding with the executions.
A judge placed a moratorium on lethal injections in Missouri in 2006, but that freeze has since been lifted.
Still, Greg Mermelstein of the Missouri Public Defender System doesn't feel that the Kentucky ruling will establish a clear mandate for other states to follow.
"I think they're leaving the door open for people in individual states to be able to say that there is something about an individual states procedures that would lead to substantial pain and suffering," said Mermelstein.
On Wednesday the high court turned back a constitutional challenge to Kentucky's three-drug procedure. Similar methods are used by about three dozen states, including Missouri.
Brian Hauswirth is a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Corrections. He said regardless of the Supreme Court ruling and calls from elected leaders, Missouri is not likely to start executing death row inmates any time soon.
"We simply don't know what this ruling out of Kentucky means for the state of Missouri," said Hauswirth.
"And we're not in any rush [to proceed with the executions.] We need to take our time and make sure we have a perfect opportunity to read over everything and see where we're at."
The last execution in Missouri was in 2005. The state currently has 46 pending capital punishment cases.