New Lethal Injection Procedure?

Looks as if the state of California is gearing up it's
Death Program with a new procedure for the
infamous lethal injection. But what makes me
wonder is how do they know if this new procedure
will be any different from the old one? Hmmm!
Check out the latest story on this issue below.



State corrections officials Tuesday proposed new lethal injection procedures, a first step toward resuming executions in California after a four-year halt.

The proposals involve only minor changes to the three-drug method used on 11 of the 13 men put to death in the state since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

But the revisions appear to address the concerns of a federal judge who deemed the previous lethal injection practices unconstitutional for their risk of inflicting cruel and unusual punishment.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation issued the proposed changes in a 25-page draft and announced a 15-day period for public comment. Once any additional revisions are made and the new protocols adopted, the execution procedures must pass judicial review for their conformance with state law and the U.S. Constitution.

California has the nation's largest death row, with 697 inmates sentenced to die. The last execution was in January 2006, when convicted killer Clarence Allen was put to death by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.

When murderer Michael A. Morales was scheduled to die a month later, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel of San Jose intervened to impose conditions that led to the current moratorium. Fogel later ruled the state procedures constitutionally flawed after hearing testimony that some of those executed may not have been fully anesthetized by the first injection before receiving the second shot, a paralyzing agent, and the painful last dose that stops the heart.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger convened a task force in 2007 to revise the lethal injection procedures to ensure they were administered effectively. But those changes were adopted behind closed doors and without public input, prompting Marin County Superior Court Judge Lynn O'Malley Taylor to rule them illegal and in violation of the state's Administrative Procedures Act.

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