Adult magazine publisher Larry Flynt wants to keep the state from executing the man who shot and crippled him almost 25 years ago. Flynt has filed a lawsuit accusing the state of hiding important information.
Self-proclaimed white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin is to die for murdering a man at a synagogue in Richmond Heights in 1979. A year before that, he tried to murder Flynt, but his bullet left Flynt him paralyzed from the waist down. Franklin later told police he did it because Flynt’s magazine had depicted interracial sex.
Flynt has filed a suit through the American Civil Liberties Union demanding sealed documents outlining the execution protocol be opened to the public. The suit also questions the legality of using a board-certified anesthesiologist to administer the execution drug.
ACLU Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman says Flynt has standing to sue although he’s not a Missourian and although Franklin has never been convicted of wounding him. He says Flynt can’t assert his right to advocate his belief that Franklin should spend the rest of his life in prison without that information.
Flynt says Franklin should forced to live out his days until he is an old man thinking about his crimes, not being executed. Franklin was 28 years old when he shot Flynt. He is 63 now.