LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A disciplinary panel has filed ethics charges against
six Arkansas Supreme Court justices over their decision to prohibit a judge who
participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration from handling any
execution-related cases.A Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission panel filed charges against
the justices on Thursday over their handling of the case involving Pulaski
County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, who was photographed lying on a cot
outside the governor’s mansion the same day he blocked Arkansas from using an
execution drug last year. A complaint against a seventh justice is still
pending.
The panel said the court never gave Griffen notice or an opportunity to be
heard over his removal from death penalty cases.
The case against the justices now goes to the full commission.
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