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Judge Wendell Griffen A federal judge on Thursday refused to dismiss a circuit judge’s lawsuit against the seven justices of the Arkansas Supreme Court who barred him from presiding over death-penalty cases, but the high court itself was dismissed from the case.
U.S. District Judge James Moody said Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen’s claims against the court itself are barred by sovereign immunity, and his request to undo the ban is barred by federal law. But he said Griffen may pursue his claims of constitutional violations against the individual justices in their official capacities.
Griffen, who is also a Baptist minister, contends that the justices violated his constitutional rights by imposing the ban in response to his participation on Good Friday last year in an anti-death penalty rally on the steps of the state Capitol and later in a protest at the Governor’s Mansion during which lay on a cot "in solidarity" with Jesus. Earlier that same day — on April 14, 2017 — Griffen had issued a temporary restraining order that prevented the state from using the drug vercuronium bromide in executing death-row inmates. The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit filed by the drug’s manufacturer, which said the state had illegally obtained the drug.
Griffen, who has said he regarded the case as a property-rights case, set a hearing for the following Tuesday to decide the matter further. Over the weekend, however, the state filed an emergency petition asking the state Supreme Court to disqualify him.
His lawsuit contends that the Supreme Court went beyond disqualifying him from the drug case, and on its own initiative it permanently banned him from presiding over any case involving the death penalty or the execution protocol.
"This is a huge win for Judge Griffen, one which cannot be overstated, especially given the current legal landscape and opposition we faced," attorney Mike Laux said Thursday in an email. He added, "With its ruling, the court recognized the viability of Judge Griffen’s allegations."
Attorney Robert Peck, who represents the court itself and three of the justices, said in an email, "I’m gratified that the court […]