Conner v. NORTH CAROLINA COUNCIL OF STATE

JACKSON, Justice.

Petitioners in this action are inmates who have been sentenced to death by lethal injection. Respondent is the North Carolina Council of State (“the Council”). Although the underlying substance of this case centers on the constitutionality of the State’s method of execution, the narrow issue before us in this appeal is a procedural one: Is the Council’s statutorily-mandated approval of an administrative agency’s action subject to the requirements of the North Carolina Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) when the promulgating agency’s action is exempt from the APA? We hold…