"With lethal injection halted, all eyes on governor," is the title of an article in Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.
California's procedures for execution by lethal injection -- described by a federal judge as broken but repairable -- will require a new commitment of energy and resources from state officials, starting with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, several analysts said Saturday.
"If the governor says this is a high priority, it's going to get the attention it needs from top-level officials,'' said Kent Scheidegger, legal director of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation and a supporter of capital punishment.
The key to compliance with U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel's ruling is "a different attitude,'' said Deborah Denno, a professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York and an opponent of the death penalty. "Judge Fogel is putting the onus on the governor.''
And:
Schwarzenegger responded Friday with a cautiously worded statement from his legal affairs secretary, Andrea Hoch: "As the ruling provides, the administration will review the lethal injection protocol to make sure the protocol and its implementation are constitutional.'' The governor, she added, "will continue to defend the death penalty and ensure the will of the people is represented.''
Santa Clara University Law Professor Gerald Uelmen said Schwarzenegger didn't seem to be expressing the forthright commitment that Fogel was looking for. "All it's going to take is a little motivation,'' Uelmen said.
But the governor's aides have assured reporters that he is committed to making changes that would satisfy the judge. That was also the view expressed Saturday by Dane Gillette, a senior assistant attorney general and lead attorney for the state in the case.
"The governor's office and the Department of Corrections will be examining the lethal injection procedures in light of Judge Fogel's concerns,'' Gillette said. "I would anticipate that the governor's office will want a full review of the procedures, what's happened and what can be done to fix it.''
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