ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Supreme Court says that a state pledge to not execute some inmates until certain conditions are met following the COVID-19 pandemic is a binding contract that the state can’t ignore.
Tuesday’s 6-0 ruling is likely to further delay efforts to put to death the inmates who were covered by the deal, although some other inmates may not be protected. The case must go back to the trial court for a final ruling.
The last person that Georgia executed was Donnie Lance in January 2020. From 2010 to 2019, Georgia executed three people on average each year. In October, Georgia had 38 people on death row, but far fewer had exhausted their appeals, according to a state report.
“We will continue to hold the State to its agreement regarding Covid-restrictions so that the Federal Defender may properly, professionally, and safely represent its clients before the courts and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles,” Ronan Doherty, who represented the Federal Defender Program, said in a statement.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr’s office declined to comment because the case is going back to the trial court.