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Oklahoma Executions "Back On"

State of Oklahoma-File photo

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An attorney for two Oklahoma death row inmates set for execution says the state's secrecy about lethal injection "undermines our courts and democracy."

Attorney Seth Day represents Clayton Lockett and Charles Warner, who challenged Oklahoma's law that keeps the source of execution drugs secret. After initially issuing a stay in the case Monday, the Oklahoma Supreme Court reversed course Wednesday and dissolved Lockett's stay.

Day says Oklahomans have no way of knowing whether the executions will be carried out "in a constitutional and humane manner" and whether the lethal drugs were obtained legally.

But Attorney General Scott Pruitt says the Oklahoma Supreme Court upheld a long-standing precedent that says the source of the drugs should remain confidential. Pruitt noted that neither Lockett nor Warner challenged their guilt or death sentences.