The Ohio Public Defender's Office has filed a new lawsuit challenging the use of injections to execute convicted killers in Ohio.
The lawsuit in federal court in Columbus says the way chemicals used in the injections work amounts to torture and violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of death row inmates Adremy Dennis and Richard Cooey, both convicted in Summit County.
Greg Meyers, head of the public defender's office capital crimes division, says a U-S Supreme Court decision earlier this year strengthens the ability to bring such a lawsuit.
The country's highest court ruled in May for the first time that a death row inmate can pursue a last-ditch claim that lethal injection is unconstitutionally cruel. A spokesman for the Ohio Attorney General's office says lethal injection is humane and several courts have ruled it constitutional.
