The Council of State won't budge on its approval of the state's revised execution protocol.

Attorneys for the council responded Monday to a group of five condemned inmates who appealed the council's approval of the protocol. Attorneys with the N.C. Department of Justice filed the response in Wake Superior Court, Titan Barksdale reports.

The inmates have said the council's approval in February 2007 was improper because it didn't hear from their attorneys first.

The council contends that the inmates don't have the right to challenge the protocol in court because the state Department of Correction offers inmates a way to challenge it. The council, a group of the state's top elected officials, added that the prisoners have failed to show they are harmed by the execution protocol.

"Injury only occurs if the execution protocol is improperly implemented," the council's response said.

More after the jump.

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The Council of State refused to reconsider its approval of the state's execution protocol today, saying that Judge Fred Morrison Jr., an administrative law judge who ordered them to take another look, doesn't have jurisdiction over them.

In August, Morrison ruled that the council should have allowed inmates' attorneys to weigh in as the council considered changes to the the protocol for lethal injection.

The protocol, which the council approved Feb. 6, requires a physician to monitor a condemned inmate's "essential body functions" and tell the warden if the inmate shows signs of suffering.

A few council members mentioned that they had received hundreds of strongly worded e-mails prior to the meeting about the death penalty. But Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson said the only issue before the council was whether Morrison had jurisdiction.

N.C. Insurance Commissioner Jim Long cast the lone dissenting vote.

A Superior Court judge ruled that the N.C. Medical Board does not have the right to discipline doctors who participate in executions.

In a six-page ruling, Judge Donald Stephens said the state's obligation to have a doctor present to give advice trumps the board's authority to ensure doctors are acting ethically, Titan Barksdale reports.

The board had said the doctors could be disciplined because executions violate their oath to preserve life. That decision led to a de facto moratorium that legislators declined to intervene in.

The N.C. Department of Correction and the medical board are adversaries in a lawsuit over the board's ethics policy that Stephens ruled on.

It's not clear at this point whether the ruling means executions can start up. But it was the first definitive word from a judge on the complex legal matters that put executions at a standstill for most of this year.

Gov. Mike Easley said today that it would "be a mistake" for the Council of State to review evidence on execution protocol, saying that they are not supposed to be judges.

Speaking to reporters following a bill signing, Easley was responding to a ruling this morning by a state administrative law judge that the Council of State needs to reconsider execution protocol, reports Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Administrative Law Judge Fred Morrison ruled that the panel of top state officials failed to hear adequate debate on capital punishment during a previous hearing in May.

House Democrats blocked an attempt to break the execution logjam.

Supporters of capital punishment tried to amend a bill on medical licenses to prevent the N.C. Medical Board from disciplining doctors who assist at executions. The threat of punishment has led to a de facto moratorium since earlier this year.

Along party lines, the House voted to block debate on the bill, letting the amendment die.

House Republican Leader Paul Stam criticized House leaders for stopping discussion.

"They want debate – except when they don't want debate," Stam said. (AP)

House Speaker Joe Hackney, a Democrat, said that he preferred to let litigation on the issue work its way through the courts. (Char-O)

As always, a number of bills didn't make it past Speed Week.

Although it's possible for a bill to be resurrected — either as a study or part of the budget — most bills that didn't pass before crossover yesterday are effectively dead.

A quick look at some of those that didn't make it:

Prohibit smoking in restaurants and other public places. Put a constitutional ban on gay marriage before voters. Ban spanking in public schools. Suspend executions for two years. Penalize owners of stolen guns who fail to report them promptly. Ban cell phone use while driving. Open state ethics hearings.

Click here for a fuller explanation of the bills.