ARKANSAS (KFSM) -- The Arkansas State Supreme Court issued the stay to give inmates on death row enough time to challenge a state law that keeps certain details of execution drugs secret.
Although the stay was granted, several topics surrounding the death penalty had politicians on both sides of the aisle split.
The state is currently debating the legality of keeping lethal injection drug names secret.
State Representative Greg Leding opposed the death penalty.
"We have got to have a criminal justice system that's built on delivering justice, not carrying out revenge," Leding said.
Leding, a democrat from Fayetteville, said he also knew the death penalty was a controversial topic in the state.
"It’s a complex issue, and it inspires a lot of passions on both sides," Leding said.
Some republicans agreed with Leding, saying the topic is controversial.
Cave Springs Senator Bart Hester said the state does make the contents of their lethal injection drugs public. However, they don’t release who the drugs are produced by.
“We do tell [inmates] what we are going to use, we just don`t tell them who mixed them,” Hester said. “The moment you notify [a company] that you are using their pills, or their drugs, as an execution drug, then they pull it off the shelves. And, then you can’t get ahold of [the product.]”
Leding said he didn’t fully agree.
"I think anybody sentenced to capital punishment absolutely deserves to know how it will be carried out. They deserve absolute transparency," Leding said.
Leding, as an opponent to the death penalty, said the state made the right call to postpone the executions set to take place in October.
"I think it was the right decision in this particular case,” Leding said. “if we are going to do this, we need to get it right.”
Although Hester said he understood the court's reasoning, he still isn't sure if other Arkansans will.
“I`m not certain why people will want to spend so much time and resources on defending people that murder our cops, and rape and murder our children,” Hester said.