By Associated Press
St. Louis, MO – The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case questioning the constitutionality of Missouri's death penalty method. And in the wake of that decision, Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster is seeking an execution date for convicted killer Joseph Franklin.
Koster said Monday that the High Court ruling was the last legal hurdle to resuming executions in Missouri.
Jennifer Herndon, an attorney for several death row inmates, disagrees. She says another lawsuit questioning the legality of Missouri's three-drug cocktail is still pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The state executed 66 men from 1989 through 2005. There has been just one execution since then while lawsuits over the protocol were pending.
Franklin is a white supremacist who killed a man outside the Brith Shalom Kneseth Israel Congregation synagogue in Richmond Heights in 1977.
Franklin has also claimed responsibility for the shooting of Hustler Magazine publisher Larry Flynt.