Ray Hobbs

Summary

Justice Baker, dissenting, would uphold the Arkansas Method of Execution Act against the separation-of-powers challenge because the General Assembly fixed the punishment and method of execution while delegating only implementation details to the Department of Correction Director. She reasoned that the Act supplies sufficient general guidance through its specification of lethal injection and permissible chemicals, and that constitutional limits further constrain the Director's discretion. The dissent would reverse the circuit court's finding that the Act is unconstitutional.