Federal judges denies Skillicorn's request for injunction

In a decision handed down this morning, U. S. District Court Judge Nanette Laughrey denied convicted killer Dennis Skillicorn's request for a preliminary injunction which would delay his execution. Skillicorn is scheduled to be put to death at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The request was made as part of an appeal filed by Skillicorn and other death row inmates challenging the state's death protocol. Judge Laughrey's opinion includes the following passage:

While the Court does not doubt that Plaintiffs' claims are brought in good faith and while there may be a slight possibility that Plaintiffs will prevail, that possibility does not reach the "significant" level required for the entry of a stay. "One cannot establish a
likelihood of success in attacking a death-penalty procedure when the theory of success has yet to succeed in a considerable number of cases . . ." Workman v. Bredesen, 486 F.3d 896, 906 (6th Cir. 2007) (vacating the district court's grant of a stay of execution in a § 1983 case challenging lethal injection protocol). More importantly, Plaintiffs have not convinced the Court by the force of their logic that there is any reasonable possibility that they will succeed on the merits of their claim, which necessarily requires a showing that Missouri law is preempted by the CSA or FDCA or is otherwise in violation of them. This factor weighs
against granting Skillicorn’s motion.

Also:

While the Court does not doubt that all attorneys involved in the litigation surrounding Skillicorn's execution have made extraordinary efforts to present all relevant issues in a timely fashion, Skillicorn's claim as argued by his counsel will not allow for consideration of those issues absent a stay. Other similar cases and the statutory bases for Plaintiffs' claims have been available to Plaintiffs for some time. Skillicorn's litigation of habeas and other collateral claims did not serve as a bar to his filing of this claim for declaratory relief.
Plaintiffs' motion was filed just over seventy-two hours before Skillicorn's scheduled execution date. He cannot overcome the strong presumption against granting a stay.

Skillicorn is being allowed to file an emergency appeal of Judge Laughrey's decision.