Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen is not backing down. Last night, he was among those gathered for a vigil and anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor’s mansion. And Griffen once again strapped himself to a cot and lay motionless, the same action that led the Supreme Court to bar Griffen from hearing death penalty cases last year.
The vigil last night was held for the four inmates put to death in the state last year, as well as for victims of violent crime and for those inmates remaining on death row. According to a report from KARK, asked for comment on his action last night, Griffen said, “We are still killing.”
During a similar event last year on Good Friday, Griffen said that he was depicting the crucifixion when he lay bound on a cot. Others saw it as symbolic of an inmate prepared for lethal injection, which angered a number of Republican legislators as the photo of Griffen on the cot spread. Prior to the vigil last year, Griffen had issued an order earlier in the day against the state in a property lawsuit alleging that Arkansas had obtained execution drugs from a supplier by dishonest means. Griffen was removed from the drug case without a hearing by the Arkansas Supreme Court after the attorney general objected. After Griffen was removed, another judge was appointed and issued the same order that Griffen had after hearing the same set of facts (that order was then overturned by the state Supreme Court).
Just a few days after the Good Friday event, in addition to removing Griffen from the property case involving execution drugs, the state Supreme Court barred Griffen from hearing death penalty cases. In response, Griffen sued the Court in October, calling the Court’s actions a “lynch mob mentality.” Last week, U.S. District Judge James Moody ruled that Griffen’s federal lawsuit against individual justices on the Court can proceed, although not his suit against the Court as a whole.
In addition to the dispute in federal court, the kerfuffle led to dueling complaints before the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. At the same time that it removed him from hearing death penalty cases, the state Supreme Court referred Griffen to the JDDC to consider whether he had violated the Code of Judicial Conduct. Griffen in turn complained that the Supreme Court had acted improperly in the handling of his case by overturning his order without a hearing and having ex parte communications on the matter. A special counsel was named to handle the dueling complaints; the investigation into both is ongoing.
Griffen, who is a Baptist preacher, has forcefully stated that his display at the governor’s mansion last year was a previously scheduled prayer vigil for his church, the New Millennium Church, not about protesting the death penalty. Members of his church were present as well as protestors with signs against the death penalty.
The scene looked similar this time, with dozens of death penalty protestors nearby while Griffen lay bound on the cot (KARK has video from the event).
Attorney Mike Laux, who is bringing Griffen’s federal lawsuit against the individual Supreme Court justices, stated, “Judge Griffen has the constitutional right to do this, and we will prove it, if need be.”
Here’s more from Laux, in response to a tweet from KARK reporter Jessi Turnure, which asked, “PRAYING OR PROTESTING? One year later, Judge Wendell Griffen resumes his spot on a cot outside the governor’s mansion during what was called a rally to remember the four men the state executed in a week last April.”
The answer is yes. Whether praying or protesting—it doesn’t matter. Both are protected under the #FirstAmendment. #JudgeGriffen will not allow the exertion of his fundamental rights to be chilled. https://t.co/AdAGBIcb9i
— Michael Laux (@Mike_Laux) April 17, 2018