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Federal judge sides with Mo. in death penalty case

This gurney is used to perform executions at a facility in Terre Haute, Ind. by lethal injection. A federal judge has rejected a challenge by Missouri prison inmates to the state's execution procedure.
(via Wikimedia Commons/Noahudlis)
This gurney is used to perform executions at a facility in Terre Haute, Ind. by lethal injection. A federal judge has rejected a challenge by Missouri prison inmates to the state's execution procedure.

A federal judge has rejected a challenge by Missouri prison inmates to the state's execution procedure.

The inmates' lawsuit argued that Missouri does not get valid medical prescriptions for the drugs used to put prisoners to death.

The lawsuit cited the state's use of non-medical personnel to administer the chemicals intravenously.

In a ruling Monday, U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey said the inmates' lawsuit failed to show actual harm to anyone.

Missouri's execution process has been the subject of legal wrangling for several years.