"Senate panel reviews Missouri death penalty bills," is the AP report filed by Chris Blank. It's via the San Francisco Chronicle. Here's the beginning:
Proposals taking aim at Missouri's death penalty procedures were examined Wednesday by the Senate's only Democratic-led committee.
Senate Minority Leader Jolie Justus, of Kansas City, said she plans to combine measures and get legislation that could potentially be debated by the full Republican-controlled chamber.
Justus has proposed creating an 11-member commission that would establish procedures and protocols for executions. Commission members would include a current or retired prosecutor and public defender, judges, health care workers and a crime victim advocate appointed by the governor. The commission would have one year and no executions would be carried out until then.
Another bill filed by Republican Sen. Rob Schaaf seeks to require that the Department of Corrections promulgate formal rules for carrying out executions. It also would bar officials from using cash to buy execution gas or chemicals and would forbid the inclusion of suppliers on the state's execution team. A state privacy law protects the identity of those on the execution team.
The legislation heard includes:
SB 787 - Execution commission
SB 804 - Death penalty procedures
SB 775 - Death penalty moratorium
More information on the legislation is available at the Missouri General Assembly website.
Earlier coverage from Missouri begins at the link.
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