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Thread: South Carolina Capital Punishment News

  1. #11
    Senior Member Frequent Poster PATRICK5's Avatar
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    Thank you for confirming once again that you are utterly clueless.
    Obama ate my dad

  2. #12
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by couldheshebeinnocent? View Post
    PATRICK5, I must remind you that violent crime rates,especially homicide,are actually lower in jurisdictions without capital punishment. Also,the US justice system still has work to do regarding rehabilitation of criminals,particularly since most of those on death row had prior criminal histories,many including violent crimes. The long prison sentences routinely handed out in the USA for such crimes should in theory help with rehabilitation,but do not in practice because the standards post-conviction systems in place to prevent reoffending are nowhere near as good as those in Western Europe,even Great Britain,my homeland.
    And once again he/she has proven he only knows how to copy and paste information from the DPIC!

    Death Penalty, Deterrence & Murder Rates: Let's be clear
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  3. #13
    Member Member Gooch33's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by couldheshebeinnocent? View Post
    PATRICK5, I must remind you that violent crime rates,especially homicide,are actually lower in jurisdictions without capital punishment. Also,the US justice system still has work to do regarding rehabilitation of criminals,particularly since most of those on death row had prior criminal histories,many including violent crimes. The long prison sentences routinely handed out in the USA for such crimes should in theory help with rehabilitation,but do not in practice because the standards post-conviction systems in place to prevent reoffending are nowhere near as good as those in Western Europe,even Great Britain,my homeland.

    That isn't true. Michigan is the only state to NEVER execute someone, but Detroit and Flint have some of the highest violent crime rates in the country. In fact, they are usually ranked #1 or #2 per population size for murder rates.

  4. #14
    Administrator Michael's Avatar
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    Fewer death penalty cases

    The tendency of South Carolina prosecutors to go after sentences of life without parole instead of the death penalty probably does not result from squeamishness about executing criminals. But the result is the same: Fewer people on death row than at any time in nearly two decades.

    Regardless of the motivation behind pursuing fewer death penalty cases, that result is welcome for a variety of reasons. For one, it alleviates concerns about the basic unfairness and uncertainty of the nation’s system of capital punishment.

    With the advent of more widespread DNA testing, we have learned that many innocent people end up on death row – and one is too many. In addition, African Americans are disproportionately represented on death row.

    But the chief motivating factor in the reduction in death penalty cases in South Carolina most likely is the high cost of putting people to death. Some might assume that it is cheaper to strap those convicted of capital crimes to a gurney and inject them with deadly chemicals than to house them in a cell for life, but that doesn’t account for the enormous cost of trying capital cases and then going through multiple appeals.

    Kenneth Lynch of West Columbia was convicted this year for killing a 7-year-old girl and her grandmother, whose bodies have not been found. If the judge had sentenced the 52-year-old Lynch to death, he would have been the 52nd inmate on South Carolina’s death row, boosting the lowest number in nearly 20 years.

    But that didn’t happen. Instead, Circuit Judge Eugene Griffith sentenced Lynch to life without parole. That means prosecutors haven’t sent anyone to death row in the past 14 months.

    This change might also reflect a changing attitude toward the death penalty. Americans may be increasingly satisfied with assurances that those who commit heinous crimes will spend their lives behind bars with no chance of ever being released.

    Prosecutors also have found the so-called “life means life” sentence useful as a bargaining tool. It is easier to persuade defendants to plead guilty and serve a life sentence by threatening to pursue a death sentence if they don’t.

    Again, though, the decline in death sentences is welcome whatever the reason.

    Illinois and Connecticut banned the death penalty within past two years, joining 14 other states and the District of Columbia. Other states, while not banning the death penalty outright, have virtually quit pursuing it.

    South Carolina is not likely to ban the death penalty anytime soon. But its growing reliance on life sentences as the ultimate punishment may have much the same effect.

    The motives may not be entirely humane, but the results are.

    http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/05/...#storylink=cpy

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  5. #15
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Parker case fallout: Whether to pursue death penalty no easy choice in Richland County

    On the surface, the just-finished Brett Parker double murder case in Richland County would have seemed the perfect death penalty trial.

    It had a villain - Parker, a creature of South Carolina's gambling underworld who investigators said cold-bloodedly plotted the execution of his wife of 16 years, Tammy Jo, then lay in wait for his close friend, Brian Capnerhurst, so he could kill Capnerhurst and make it look like his friend killed Tammy.

    The 43-year-old Parker - who lived in a high-income neighborhood and had a background more privileged than most - killed for $1 million in Tammy Jo's insurance money and other assets.But 5th Circuit Solicitor Dan Johnson chose to seek a guilty verdict that brought 2 sentences of life without parole.

    As it turned out, after a 3-week trial, the jury last week couldn't wait to find Parker guilty, taking less than 2 hours to deliver its verdict at the Richland County courthouse.

    "Each case is different - I look at the factors in every case on a case-by-case basis and look at the facts and make the appropriate decisions," said Johnson, whose team of prosecutors headed by Luck Campbell crushed defense efforts to show Parker was innocent.

    "I can tell you it's not easy," Johnson said.Johnson declined to discuss, for now, why he decided not to go for the death penalty in Parker's case, saying the case still could be appealed. He did point out he's seeking death in another 5th Circuit case yet to be tried. That one, in neighboring Kershaw County, involves the random 2011 kidnapping, rape and murder of Hope Melton; Nicklas Miller is charged in the killing.

    Legal observers, while not criticizing Johnson, said the Parker case sets a high standard in Richland and Kershaw counties for when the death penalty will be sought.

    "If Parker's premeditated, execution-style killing doesn't qualify for the death penalty, it's going to be tough to bring it against a 19-year-old black kid who's a high school dropout with a crack cocaine habit who kills a clerk while robbing a convenience store," said Dick Harpootlian, a former 5th Circuit solicitor who prosecuted a dozen death penalty cases in 20 years in the office during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He also has defended 2 death penalty cases as a private attorney.

    What if?

    Death death penalty trials take place in 2 phases - a guilt or innocence phase followed by a punishment phase if the verdict is guilty. So a prosecutor has to try to get jurors who will not only vote to convict, but then vote for the death penalty, Harpootlian said.

    "I've had jurors come back and tell me they could vote to find the defendant guilty, but because it was a circumstantial case, they couldn't vote for the death penalty," Harpootlian said. Many jurors just don't want to take a chance that evidence might turn up years later that would exonerate someone, he said.

    The Parker case, Harpootlian pointed out, was like that: There were no witnesses and no direct evidence. The case was entirely circumstantial and based on scientific evidence and reconstruction of the crime scene by numerous prosecution witnesses.

    And, Harpootlian said, prosecutors know that in part because of Richland County's large African-American population, it's difficult to find a jury that will give a defendant the death penalty.

    Black people are known to dislike the death penalty, in part because during the past century, black people have been executed at a far greater rate in South Carolina than have white defendants. In all, the state has executed 180 African-Americans since 1912, compared with only 76 whites, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections. Also part of the state's history: more than 150 black people were lynched by white mobs around the state, roughly from 1890 to 1946. No whites were lynched.

    In fact, Richland County juries have given only 2 defendants the death penalty in the past 30 years. (2 other Richland killers, Joseph Shaw and Terry Roach, were executed in the mid-1980s. Judge David Harwell sentenced them to die after they pleaded guilty in front of him; no jury was involved.)

    During Harpootlian's 20 years in the solicitor's office, he only won 2 death penalty verdicts out of 12 death penalty cases. One was for the state's most notorious serial killer, Donald "Pee Wee" Gaskins, who died in the state's electric chair in 1991. The other was for a serial rapist-killer, John Simmons.

    Since Gaskins, only 1 Richland County killer has been executed - Jason Byram, in 2004. Former 5th Circuit Solicitor Barney Giese won a death sentence against Byram in 1995 for the burglary-murder of a Rosewood woman, Julie Johnson, who had 3 children and taught handicapped children.

    Lexington leads state

    Meanwhile, in the past 30 years or so, juries in mostly white Lexington County have returned at least 3 dozen death penalty verdicts.

    During that time period, 5 Lexington County killers have been executed. On appeal to higher court, many of 3 dozen-odd death verdicts from Lexington County juries were later overturned because of judge or prosecutor errors; the killers wound up with life sentences.Jack Swerling, whose nickname is "Mr. Murder" because he's been a defense lawyer in more than 200 murder cases, including a dozen death penalty cases, said race isn't the only population difference between Lexington County and Richland County that makes it easier to win a death verdict. Lexington County is more conservative politically, more Republican and more rural - all demographic traits that favor death penalty verdicts, Swerling said.

    "That's why I'm against the death penalty," Swerling said. "You can try 1 case in 1 county and get the death penalty, and that same factual situation in another county will get you life - largely because of demographics."

    Currently, Richland County has only 1 killer on death row. Lexington leads the state, with 6 condemned men awaiting execution.

    Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott, whose investigators in the Parker case worked closely with Johnson's prosecutors to put together a case with more than 500 evidence exhibits and some 200 potential witnesses, said one reason he didn't want the death penalty was because of Parker's 2 school-age children.

    "These kids are victims. I did not want to hurt those kids any more than their father had already hurt them," said Lott, adding that he made his thinking known to Johnson. "The kids have already lost one parent, and even though the parent responsible for it will be in prison the rest of his life, at least he's still alive."

    Also, Lott said, there was not a huge push from the families of Capnerhurst and Tammy Jo Parker to seek the death penalty. "If you don't have total, 100 % of the victims' families in a death penalty case, then that really hurts a lot," Lott said.

    In a death penalty case, defense attorneys could put a victim's family member on the witness stand to ask for mercy for the killer.

    Johnson said he didn't want to discuss how he decided to seek life sentences for Parker because Parker's lawyers might appeal the case. His reasoning, if made public, he said, could give defense lawyers ammunition to attack his cases in the future and because it just wasn't "appropriate."

    Generally, however, Johnson, who was elected solicitor in 2010, said he takes into consideration factors such as the strength of the case, the criminal history of the defendant, the number of aggravating circumstances, the victim's family's perspective, law enforcement's input and community expectations.

    Under state law, a killing has to meet at least 1 of some 22 qualifying aggravating criteria, such as killing a law enforcement officer, killing a child 11 or younger, or killing during a kidnapping.

    In Parker's case, he qualified for the death penalty in that he killed 2 people in what was basically a single act, and he killed for financial gain. He also lay in wait for his victims.

    But Parker, although a big-time bookie, had never been arrested and had all the appearances, publicly, of being a law-abiding citizen.

    'Dr. Death'

    Solicitor Donnie Myers, whose 11th Circuit covers Lexington, Saluda, Edgefield, McCormick counties, has tallied more than 35 death penalty verdicts over a 36-year prosecutorial career.

    "I've never seen an exact formula that tells you when to seek the death penalty and when not to seek the death penalty," Myers said. "If anybody came up with that, they'd be a brilliant man or woman. It's a tremendously difficult decision."

    There's no major factor in the decision-making, but "a whole bunch of serious factors," Myers said. "Is it a horrible case? Who is the person who committed it?"

    Myers, whose nickname is "Dr. Death," said he takes the wishes of the families of the victims into consideration but tells them he will make the final decision.

    Another factor is that death penalty cases are emotionally grueling for jurors.

    "Everyone I've talked to has talked about how agonizing it was in reaching the decision in giving someone the death penalty," he said. After making the decision, jurors often hold hands in their jury room and "say a little prayer," Myers said.

    Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews can't comment on why Johnson sought life in the Parker murder trial.

    But Matthews has no doubt Johnson is right in seeking the death penalty in the Miller kidnap-rape-and-murder case, which has not yet gone to trial.

    "I saw the victim. What Miller did was the worst thing I've ever seen in all my years in law enforcement," Matthews said. "If there was ever a case that deserved a death penalty trial, this is it."

    Melton, 30, was abducted after stopping at a Chesterfield County convenience store near Jefferson. She was raped, beaten with a baseball bat and left in a barn.

    Lott said that although not a death penalty case, the Parker trial - with the avalanche of media coverage and hundreds of bits of circumstantial and scientific evidence that had to be pieced together - had some of the biggest stakes of any modern state criminal trial.

    "This was the O. J. Simpson case of Columbia," Lott said, referring to the highly publicized 1995 double murder case involving the former NFL star.In that case, the jury set Simpson free after hearing a circumstantial case built on scientific evidence, much like that in the Parker case - except that in Simpson's case, defense lawyers shredded the professionalism of the Los Angeles police.

    "Our whole sheriff's department was on trial as well as Parker," Lott said. "We passed the test."

    Myers, who has more death penalty experience than do most lawyers in the nation, said death penalty trials are sad affairs. Despite all the people he has sent to death row - so many he has lost count - he said he never feels as if he has won.

    "There are no winners in a death penalty case," Myers said. "Somebody's got to be dead in a horrible manner to begin with."

    (source: The State)

  6. #16
    PalmettoPatriot
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    Quote Originally Posted by PITA View Post
    Thank you for the good news,Heidi (It is good news in my opinion when executions and handing out of death sentences anywhere that still has capital punishment either slow down or come to a stop) Of course,the inmate South Carolina executed,Jeffrey Motts,was a 'volunteer' for execution (i.e. he waived appeals of his death sentence before he was executed in 2011) and therefore does not really figure except for posterity purposes.
    This is my home country.

    We have many many monsters here that need to be dealt with.

    Inmann comes to mind rather quickly. As soon as we get a native born and raised South Carolinian in the governor's office I suspect things to move forward rather rapidly. This is good news for me, as I stated this is my home and the matter is practical not academic in my case.

    -Jon

  7. #17
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Three death row inmates granted reprieves in Dorchester County

    In the past year, three murderers sentenced by Dorchester County juries to die by lethal injection or electrocution have been granted reprieves - one commuted to life in prison and two others granted new sentencing hearings.

    "There is an expression that 'death is different,' meaning death penalty cases get more appellate scrutiny than other cases," said 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe, who prosecutes cases in Dorchester, Orangeburg and Calhoun counties. "This is very understandable given the circumstances of the consequences, but it doesn't make it better for the families of victims who get no justice or closure."

    While it's not unusual for capital punishment cases to be sent back for new sentencing hearings or even overturned, Pascoe said, it's often difficult to track down witnesses to crimes committed many years ago. And that's assuming the survivors are willing to relive the crimes by testifying or sitting through another trial or hearing.

    None of the three Dorchester County death row cases involved errors by the trial judge or misdeeds by the prosecutor. Instead, two successfully argued their defense attorneys had not represented them adequately at trial or in the sentencing phase and the third was resentenced to life without parole because of his mental condition.

    None of the higher court rulings frees any of the three inmates, although one facing resentencing, Timothy Rogers, could eventually be eligible for parole if he gets life instead of the death penalty.

    Abusive childhood defense

    John Edward Weik hovered over the mother of his child as he wielded a shotgun. He fired the gun four times at 27-year-old Susan Hutto Krasae. The first shot nearly severed her arm. A shotgun pellet fractured her right jawbone. The shots to her chest killed her.

    On May 27, 1999, a jury found him guilty of murder. The next day they sentenced him to death.

    After exhausting his appeals, Weik filed for post-conviction relief, claiming his attorneys did not present enough evidence during sentencing to properly portray his troubled upbringing.

    Attorney Michael O'Connell, who worked on Weik's post-conviction relief case, argued that testimony and evidence that had not been presented at his death penalty hearing would have shown how "chaotic" and dysfunctional his childhood had been.

    A judge denied the post-conviction relief request for a new sentencing hearing, but it was granted on appeal by the S.C. Supreme Court earlier this week.

    "Anytime cases like this one come back it is a financial burden on the office but it pales in comparison to what the family of the victims go through," Pascoe said.
    Re-sentencing hearings

    Weik's case is one of at least two death penalty cases Pascoe will have to handle.

    In September, the South Carolina Supreme Court refused to hear Timothy Rogers' request for post-conviction relief, but sent it back to Dorchester County for a resentencing hearing.

    In 1994 Rogers, now 46, was sentenced to death for the Nov. 25, 1992, murder of 9-year-old Stephanie Burditt, who he shot in the head outside a Summerville grocery store.

    Burditt was in her father's truck, which was parked in front of a grocery store, Her father, Michael Burditt, and Rogers, who had walked up to the store, began arguing, possibly about the use of a pay phone. The argument continued as Burditt got into his truck, and Rogers, then 24, pointed a gun at Burditt's head and threatened to kill him.

    As Burditt drove off, Rogers fired at the truck. The shot pierced the back window and struck Stephanie Burditt in the head. She was taken to a hospital but died the next day.

    Rogers was granted a new sentencing hearing in 1996 and a jury, once again, sentenced him to death.

    However, after claiming ineffective counsel, he was granted a third sentencing hearing. No hearing date has been set.

    A third death row inmate also could end up getting a new hearing. Kenneth Simmons, 53, who had been sentenced to death in Dorchester County in 1999, was resentenced to life without parole after a higher court ruled he should not be executed because he is mentally challenged.

    The state is appealing the court's decision. Depending on the outcome in the appeal, Simmons could wind up before a Dorchester County jury for resentencing.

    Simmons was convicted of murder in the Sept. 1, 1996, robbery, rape, torture and killing of 87-year-old Lily Bell Boyd in her Summerville home.

    In a taped confession, Simmons told police that he had been smoking crack cocaine and drinking beer for hours before he rode a bicycle to Boyd's West Luke Street home and robbed her to buy more crack.

    After Boyd gave him cash, Simmons beat her with a stick he found on her porch, then raped and strangled her.

    Her body was found in the kitchen later that Sunday. Boyd had been gagged and beaten bloody, her wrists and feet bound and her ribs fractured in 14 places.

    http://www.postandcourier.com/articl...th-row-inmates
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  8. #18
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    With dozens of inmates on death row, South Carolina runs out of lethal injection drug

    South Carolina is among the latest states to run out of pentobarbital, the anesthetic that comes first in the state's three-drug method for executions by lethal injection. Similar problems elsewhere have forced states to consider alternatives, including the electric chair and nitrogen gas. And while there are no immediate signs of changing the way South Carolina executes people, there's also no indication officials are on the cusp of acquiring any more of the drug, either.

    WHAT HAPPENED?

    Corrections Director Bryan Stirling recently told The Associated Press the state's supply of pentobarbital expired in September 2013 and was discarded, as its effectiveness had worn off. The state still has the other two drugs it uses in its lethal injection — pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

    When South Carolina looked to replenish its pentobarbital supplies, officials found no willing vendors.

    "We have been looking for a while for a solution to this issue," said Stirling, who took over at Corrections in early 2014. "I don't know what the answer is."

    Ohio has had trouble finding drugs and is now out of both of the two it needs. Oklahoma is considering moving to nitrogen as an execution method. Georgia recently stopped an execution because its chemicals were "cloudy."

    States including Georgia have bought execution drugs from compounding pharmacies, but Stirling says he's ruled out as too expensive.

    HOW DOES IT WORK HERE NOW?

    South Carolina uses a three-drug method to execute inmates by lethal injection. Execution by electrocution is still legally acceptable, but an inmate must select that method, in writing, two weeks before execution.

    Currently, the state has 44 inmates on death row. There are no executions currently scheduled. But if an order were issued now, Stirling said the state wouldn't be able to carry it out unless the inmate opted for the electric chair.

    South Carolina hasn't executed anyone since 2011, when Jeffrey Motts was the first inmate killed here using a new drug combination that replaced sodium thiopental with pentobarbital. The state switched sedatives because federal agents seized its supply as part of a nationwide investigation into whether prisons obtained the drugs legally from England.

    CAN LAWMAKERS HELP?

    Stirling says he has been working on a solution — either finding a new provider for the drug, compounding it independently, or having legislators change death penalty statues to give pharmacies and drug providers more privacy, in hopes they'll start selling to the state again. So far, none of those avenues have panned out.

    If their names were shielded from the public, like the names of individuals involved in carrying out executions, Stirling said, pharmaceutical companies might be willing to start selling the drugs again.

    Sen. Shane Massey, who sits on the committee that oversees the state's prisons, said perhaps legislators should get involved and find ways to change state laws so that South Carolina can actually carry out the death penalty if needed.

    "If you're going to have it, you have to have the means to execute it," said Massey, R-Edgefield.

    Massey also suggested giving the Corrections Department more explicit direction on how the death penalty should be carried out, such as what drugs should be used.

    http://www.dailyjournal.net/view/sto...outh-Carolina/
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  9. #19
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    Bill would shield companies that sell SC execution drugs

    A bill introduced in South Carolina last week would protect the identities of pharmaceutical companies in the hopes that the providers will start selling execution drugs to the state again.

    The legislation would officially add drug companies to the state's execution team and require that their identities be kept secret. The proposal would also exempt the companies from state health and purchasing rules. A Senate subcommittee is scheduled to talk about the bill Tuesday.

    South Carolina has run out of one of its three lethal injection drugs, the anesthetic pentobarbital, and cannot find anyone willing to sell more. If their names were shielded from the public, as the names of individuals involved in carrying out executions already are, pharmaceutical companies might be willing to start selling the drugs again, Corrections Director Bryan Stirling has said.

    The state still has the other two drugs it uses in its lethal injection — pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

    Similar problems elsewhere have forced states to consider alternatives, including the electric chair and nitrogen gas. Electrocution is still legally acceptable in South Carolina, but an inmate must request that method two weeks before execution.

    Texas, the country's most active death penalty state, is working to find a supplier to replenish a dwindling inventory of execution drugs. That's happening amid a pending court order that would no longer allow the state to protect the supplier's identity.

    Ohio has had trouble finding drugs and is now out of both of the two it needs. Oklahoma is considering moving to nitrogen as an execution method. Georgia recently stopped an execution because its chemicals were "cloudy."

    If Gov. Gary Herbert approves a recently approved bill, Utah would become the only state to allow an execution by firing squads if there's a drug shortage.

    South Carolina currently has 44 inmates on death row, and there are no executions currently scheduled. The state hasn't executed anyone since 2011, when Jeffrey Motts was the first inmate killed here using a new drug combination that replaced sodium thiopental with pentobarbital. The state switched sedatives because federal agents seized its supply as part of a nationwide investigation into whether prisons obtained the drugs legally from England.

    http://www.greenvilleonline.com/stor...rugs/24856725/
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  10. #20
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    SC lawmakers advance bill to shield execution-drug sellers

    The identities of drug companies that supply execution drugs to South Carolina would become secret under legislation approved Tuesday by a panel of state lawmakers.

    The legislation would add drug companies to the state's execution team and require their identities be kept secret, in the hope that providers will resume selling execution drugs to the state. The proposal also would exempt the companies from state health and purchasing rules. A Senate subcommittee voted for it unanimously.

    South Carolina has run out of 1 of its 3 lethal injection drugs, the anesthetic pentobarbital, and cannot find anyone willing to sell more. Corrections director Bryan Stirling has said that if their names were shielded from the public, as the names of individuals involved in carrying out executions already are, pharmaceutical companies might be willing to start selling the drugs again.

    State Sen. Paul Campbell, R-Berkeley, chairman of the subcommittee, said the measure was intended to protect the companies from protests and lawsuits but also would enable the state's prisons agency to complete its duty of performing executions.

    "It allows the Department of Corrections to carry out the verdict that was handed down by the court system," Campbell said. "Without this, they have a very difficult time carrying out those instructions."

    No one spoke in opposition to the bill, which will be considered by the full Senate Corrections and Penology Committee later this week. In an interview after Tuesday's meeting, Stirling said he was pleased the bill was moving forward and that, in the meantime, his agency continues its search for more pentobarbital.

    "We are actively trying to find a company that will sell us this drug for executions,'" Stirling said.

    The legislation was patterned after bills in other states that have run into problems obtaining execution drugs. Texas, the country's most active death penalty state, is working to find a supplier to replenish its dwindling inventory amid a pending court order that would no longer allow the state to protect the supplier's identity.

    Ohio is out of the 3 drugs it needs. In February, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by 4 death row inmates there who challenged a similar shield law. Similar fights are ongoing in other death penalty states such as Oklahoma and Missouri. But courts - including the U.S. Supreme Court - have yet to halt an execution based on a state's refusal to reveal its drug supplier.

    (source: The State)
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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