Utah lawmakers have passed a bill that would make the state the only one in America to authorize the use of firing squads for the executions of death row inmates if the state can’t obtain lethal injection drugs.
Gov. Gary Herbert has not said whether he will sign in the bill
into law, but it did pass the state Senate in an 18-10 vote.
Like many other US states, Utah is having trouble finding lethal
injection drugs as part of its preferred method of executing
death row inmates. International pharmaceutical companies, which
generally manufacture the drugs used in lethal injections, have
stopped selling them to state correctional facilities.
READ MORE:
Key lethal injection drug running out in Texas, S. Carolina
“If those substances cannot be obtained, this proposal would
make sure that those instructed to carry out the lawful order of
the court and the carefully deliberated decision of the jury can
do so,” Herbert, a Republican, said in a statement, according to NBC.
Utah originally used firing squads in executions before the
method was repealed in 2004, but there are a handful of inmates
on death row that have chosen the method for their execution
because they were sentenced before 2004. The last prisoner to be
executed by firing squad in the state was Ronnie Lee Gardner in
2010.
“We have to have an option,” Utah Rep. Paul Ray (R) told
reporters when he introduced the House version of the bill.
The Utah State Senate passed a bill to authorize execution by
firing squad if lethal injections are unavailable http://t.co/NQjdW2WUx0
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March
11, 2015
In 2001, the first of three drugs used in the lethal injection
cocktail, sodium thiopental, was discontinued by the only
FDA-approved manufacturer of the drug, Hospira. The company had
intended to move production of the drug from a North Carolina
plant to a modern facility in Italy; however, it ran afoul of
European Union regulations that would hold the company liable for
torture if the drug was sold for anything other than to induce
surgical anesthesia.
READ MORE: Oklahoma
considering ‘efficient’ gas chambers for executions
A number of states are exploring alternatives to lethal injection
because the drugs are becoming harder to obtain. Tennessee
brought back the electric chair as an alternative method last
year, although inmates have sued to stop it from being used.
In Oklahoma, lawmakers are considering a bill to use a gas
chamber with nitrogen gas as an alternative to the electric
chair. The state’s lethal injection formula is currently under
review by the US Supreme Court to determine whether it violates
the Eighth Amendment’s protection against cruel and unusual
punishment, since the state had a number of botched executions.
Oklahoma’s third method remains the firing squad.
READ MORE:
Pennsylvania gov. declares
moratorium on ‘unjust’ death penalty
Pennsylvania’s governor declared a stay on executions for 187
death row inmates in February, pending further analysis of the
state’s capital sentencing system, which was acknowledged to be
riddled with flaws.