Friday, March 7, 2014

Alabama House approves execution drug secrecy bill

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) -
The Alabama House has approved making parts of the state's death penalty entirely hidden from public view.
Rep. Lynn Greer's proposal, which the  Alabama Department of Corrections strongly advocates, would make secret the individuals involved in an execution, as well as where the state acquires the drugs required for a lethal injection.
"As members of this body, I think we owe it to the compounding pharmacies in this state and sells it for the small amount to the Department of Corrections," Greer said. "We owe him and his family that safety. We owe the person over there that injects the needle in the vein."
The bill would protect the identities of Corrections Officers and other staff that participate in the execution process.
Greer talked about the harassment and protests that the companies that manufacture drugs for lethal injection have faced.
Recently, the prison officials in the state of Missouri had to answer questions from state lawmakers there about the secretive process they have used to obtain drugs to be used for executions.
Lawsuits and similar issues have led to access issues to obtain the chemicals needed for lethal injection. The State of Alabama started using lethal injection as its primary execution method 12 years ago.
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