MissouriNet posts, "Bill proposes moratorium on, study of state executions," written by Mike Lear.
Some state lawmakers want executions in Missouri put on hold until questions are answered about how they are being carried out.
Representative John Rizzo (D-Kansas City) has proposed that an 11-member commission be appointed to study those same issues, and he wants executions halted through the end of this year or until that commission’s work is complete, whichever comes first.
“I want them to look into some of the pharmaceuticals that are being used … how they’re being acquired. I’d like for them to look into the most recent execution of a person that in my opinion was still in the (legal) process but then was executed.”
The issues Rizzo cites are the same ones that will be looked into by the House Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability when it meets Tuesday. It will ask how the Corrections Department determines whether a condemned man has exhausted all of his constitutional appeals. Judge Kermit Bye, in a dissenting opinion, wrote that Missouri executed Allan Nicklasson December 11, “before the federal courts had a final say on whether doing so violated the federal Constitution.”
"Lawmakers Call for Full Review of Lethal Injection Protocol," is from KRCG-TV News.
One of the state's top-ranking house Democrats filed a measure Monday to review Missouri's lethal injection protocols and put executions on hold while the review takes place.
House Minority Whip John Rizzo, D-Kansas City, told KRCG 13 he wants legislators to investigate, among other things, whether Missouri's use of an out-of-state compounding pharmacy to mix its execution drugs is a violation of state law, something State Auditor Tom Schweich announced Monday he is already looking into. He said he does not intend his measure to effect broad changes to the state's capital punishment statutes.
"There might be honest-to-goodness reasons that are good and forthright," he said. "If there are, we'd like to hear them. We just would like to add more transparency."
Under Rizzo's proposal, an eleven-person commission, including two Democratic and two Republican lawmakers, a county prosecutor, the attorney general and two doctors, would study all aspects of lethal injection in the state, ranging from the source of the drugs used in executions to challenges to injections to the effectiveness of the drugs used. All executions would be halted while the commission conducted its review. His proposal states the commission's purpose "shall not extend to reevaluating the policy decisions of the general assembly in enacting a death penalty nor the means chosen by the general assembly in implementing the state's death penalty."
And:
House Corrections Committee chair Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, whose district includes the Potosi Correctional Center where executions are carried out, told KRCG 13 he was open to a review of how lethal injection is used. He said he would be happy to give Rizzo's proposal a hearing if it is assigned to his committee.
Obviously, there are some questions that need to be answered and this might be a good time to do it," he said.
Earlier coverage from Missouri begins at the link.
Comments