Oklahoma Death Row Inmates Sue to Stop Executions

A group of death row inmates in Oklahoma sued state officials in federal court Wednesday over what they called “unsound procedures” in the state’s execution process.

Citing the botched execution of Clayton Locket and other incidents, more than 20 plaintiffs filed suit claiming Oklahoma’s current method of execution violates the constitutional rights of the condemned. The lawsuit names several corrections officials as defendants, as well as unnamed people such as “Doctor X” and “Paramedic Y” to identify officials that take part in executions.

The plaintiffs assert that the state uses unsound procedures to administer executions and unsound drugs, adding up to a violation of the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. under the 8th Amendment.

“We look forward to the full airing of the important issues raised in this case through the discovery process,” Dale Baich, an attorney for one of the death row prisoners, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections declined to comment on the matter, telling TIME: “We don’t comment on pending lawsuits.”

States around the country, including Oklahoma, have faced scrutiny in recent years as a shortage of the drugs used in lethal injections has forced officials to look to alternative sources to secure the cocktail of chemicals meant to painlessly kill a convict.

In the 25 minutes it took him to die, Lockett was observed mumbling and rolling his head side to side, apparently in agony. His seemingly agonizing death in April sparked a national outcry about capital punishment.

In January, another man, Michael Wilson, said “I feel my whole body burning,” during the procedure. Anti-death penalty activists have pointed to these examples as evidence that the punishment cannot be carried out humanely. For a time in the wake of Lockett’s death, a de facto moratorium on executions across the country was in place, as officials scrambled to ensure the botched procedure was not repeated. Georgia, Florida and Missouri were the first states to end the unofficial moratorium earlier this month.