Missouri Taxpayers File Landmark Lawsuit Challenging Missouri's Lethal Injection Protocol

July 9, 2015, St. Louis, MO – Today, four Missouri taxpayers filed a public interest lawsuit seeking to stop Missouri public officials from violating state and federal law in carrying out executions.

“This case is not about the general legality of the death penalty in Missouri or elsewhere,” said Justin K. Gelfand, a former federal tax prosecutor representing the taxpayers who is an attorney at Capes, Sokol, Goodman & Sarachan, P.C. in St. Louis, Missouri. “We brought this case because Missouri public officials responsible for overseeing and administering executions are violating federal and state law using the tax dollars of hardworking Missourians.”

Lead Plaintiff Joan Bray, a former member of the Missouri Senate and former state representative, is joined by Jeanette Mott Oxford, a former state representative, the Rev. Elston McCowan, a Baptist Minister and the criminal justice and prison committee chair for the Missouri NAACP, and Mary Ann McGivern, a Catholic nun.

“I’m shocked by the hypocrisy of a state government that reasonably expects Missourians to obey its laws, but then uses our taxes to illegally obtain drugs to execute people,” said Bray. “This lawsuit is intended to stop our government officials from violating the law, even if we live in a state with capital punishment.”

This lawsuit, which was filed in Cole County, Missouri, is the first to challenge Missouri’s lethal injection protocol through taxpayer standing. In particular, the lawsuit alleges that Missouri’s method of executing prisoners violates laws prohibiting the compounding of FDA-approved pentobarbital, the fatal drug used to kill Missouri inmates under the current method of execution. The lawsuit also alleges that Missouri’s method of execution violates state and federal controlled substance laws because the compounded pentobarbital is procured by an invalid “prescription” written by a doctor who is contractually-bound to write the prescription and who conducts no medical examination whatsoever.

The plaintiffs are seeking a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief to stop Missouri public officials from violating the law.A hearing in this case is currently being scheduled. The case is Bray, et al. v. Missouri Department of Corrections, et al., Case Number 15AC-CC00312 in the Circuit Court of Cole County in Jefferson City, Missouri.

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