The Latest: Judge defends right to oppose death penalty

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Latest on an Arkansas judge participating in an anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor’s mansion (all times local):

12:35 p.m.

An Arkansas judge prohibited from hearing execution cases said he remains as committed to the law and his First Amendment right to express his “moral and religious” opposition to the death penalty as he was a year ago when he was disqualified for participating in an anti-capital punishment demonstration.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen said in a statement Wednesday that his resolve and hope are “stronger than ever,” the day after he re-enacted his anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor’s mansion. Griffen on Tuesday night lay down on a cot during a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of Arkansas putting four inmates to death.

The state Supreme Court prohibited Griffen from hearing death penalty related cases last year after the judge participated in an identical demonstration. Griffen is suing the high court’s justices over the disqualification, saying it violated his constitutional rights.

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10:28 a.m.

An Arkansas judge prohibited from hearing execution cases has again demonstrated against the death penalty outside the governor’s mansion, lying down on a cot in a scene identical to the protest that prompted his disqualification last year.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen on Tuesday night participated in a vigil held by death penalty opponents to mark the one-year anniversary of Arkansas putting four inmates to death. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that when asked why he participated in the protest, Griffen said “we are still killing.”

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com