More glitches in execution procedures are causing executions to be slowed, or put on hold. But it's worth remembering that what sparked the controversy over execution procedures was not technicalities, but the fact that people were being tortured to death when the drugs were not administered correctly. Further, discussion of the method of execution obscures a bigger question about whether the death penalty can ever be anything but cruel and unusual punishment, a barbaric relic that belongs in the dustbin of history.
jb
Shortage of death penalty drug in Oklahoma delays executions
The problems will continue into next year, as the manufacturer of the sedative, sodium thiopental, won't have more of the anesthetic on the market until then. In Oklahoma, the sedative's shortage could affect as many as four executions. One execution already has been stayed and another is scheduled but with a substitute drug. Further, the state attorney general's office is likely to request before 2011 that two more executions be set.
State prison officials already have twice planned to use alternative sedatives. The first switch announced last month caused a federal judge to stay an execution on the day the inmate was set to die.
In another case, officials announced last week the planned use of a different substitute drug, which could lead to another stay and a lawsuit. A federal public defender claimed the Corrections Department is arbitrarily making life and death decisions.
"They're making up their protocol based on what is available at the time,” Oklahoma Western District Federal Public Defender Susan M. Otto told a judge. "We have no assurance what they plan to do today is what will happen.”
State Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said the decisions are based on consultations with other corrections departments.
"There are people out there that can give you advice,” he said.
Of the 35 states that allow the death penalty, nearly all use sodium thiopental as part of the lethal cocktail, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Late last month, Kentucky announced it would not be able to carry out two of three scheduled lethal injections because the state has only enough sodium thiopental for one. In Ohio and Washington a large overdose of sodium thiopental is the only drug administered during lethal injections.
While several states' laws indicate the drugs to be used during lethal injection, Oklahoma law calls for an ultra short-acting barbiturate without specifying a drug.
Oklahoma's protocol for lethal injection is for the sedative to be administered first, followed by a drug to stop breathing and then a drug to stop the heart. Up until last month, the usual sedative was sodium thiopental.
Hospira, based outside Chicago, is the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental. The shortage occurred because of an issue with a third-party supplier, company spokeswoman Tareta Adams said.
"What we're dealing with is a supply issue of the active ingredient,” she said. "From a sales point of view, it's not a big product for us.”
The drug — manufactured and used for 60 years as an anesthetic agent for surgeries and other procedures — should be back on the market in early 2011, Adams said.
Sodium thiopental was to be used on Oklahoma death row inmate Jeffrey David Matthews until corrections officials learned the only dose had expired, according to court records.
Matthews, 38, was scheduled for lethal injection Aug. 17 for murdering Otis Short, 77, during a 1994 McClain County burglary.
A federal judge stayed Matthews' execution after his attorneys raised concerns about the substitute sedative. Prison officials later obtained a dose of sodium thiopental, but the judge said there could be other issues and kept an Oct. 15 hearing and would not lift the stay to expire on Oct. 16.
Two days before Matthews' stay expires, Donald Ray Wackerly II, 40, is scheduled to be executed for the 1996 murder of Pan Sayakhoummane, 51, during a Sequoyah County robbery.
Assistant Attorney General Greg Metcalfe told the judge the dose of sodium thiopental is earmarked for Matthews and the Corrections Department plans to use another sedative, pentobarbital, for Wackerly's execution. Veterinarians use pentobarbital for animal euthanasia and it is the legal drug for physician-assisted suicide in Oregon.
The judge noted Wackerly's right to file a lawsuit challenging the use of pentobarbital. As of Friday afternoon, Wackerly had not filed a lawsuit.
Before the year ends, the state attorney general's office may ask the state Court of Criminal Appeals to set two execution dates, said spokeswoman Emily Lang. John David Duty faces execution for the 2001 strangulation death of his cellmate in 2001; and Billy Alverson faces execution for the 1995 fatal beating of a store clerk in Tulsa.
Read more: http://newsok.com/drug-shortage-delays-executions/article/3494471#ixzz0zPuw5ulD
jb
Shortage of death penalty drug in Oklahoma delays executions
A nationwide shortage of a sedative used in Oklahoma's lethal injection cocktails has delayed executions, spurred legal battles and prompted state prison officials to try to find substitute drugs.
State prison officials already have twice planned to use alternative sedatives. The first switch announced last month caused a federal judge to stay an execution on the day the inmate was set to die.
In another case, officials announced last week the planned use of a different substitute drug, which could lead to another stay and a lawsuit. A federal public defender claimed the Corrections Department is arbitrarily making life and death decisions.
"They're making up their protocol based on what is available at the time,” Oklahoma Western District Federal Public Defender Susan M. Otto told a judge. "We have no assurance what they plan to do today is what will happen.”
State Corrections Department spokesman Jerry Massie said the decisions are based on consultations with other corrections departments.
"There are people out there that can give you advice,” he said.
Of the 35 states that allow the death penalty, nearly all use sodium thiopental as part of the lethal cocktail, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Late last month, Kentucky announced it would not be able to carry out two of three scheduled lethal injections because the state has only enough sodium thiopental for one. In Ohio and Washington a large overdose of sodium thiopental is the only drug administered during lethal injections.
While several states' laws indicate the drugs to be used during lethal injection, Oklahoma law calls for an ultra short-acting barbiturate without specifying a drug.
Oklahoma's protocol for lethal injection is for the sedative to be administered first, followed by a drug to stop breathing and then a drug to stop the heart. Up until last month, the usual sedative was sodium thiopental.
Hospira, based outside Chicago, is the sole U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental. The shortage occurred because of an issue with a third-party supplier, company spokeswoman Tareta Adams said.
"What we're dealing with is a supply issue of the active ingredient,” she said. "From a sales point of view, it's not a big product for us.”
The drug — manufactured and used for 60 years as an anesthetic agent for surgeries and other procedures — should be back on the market in early 2011, Adams said.
Sodium thiopental was to be used on Oklahoma death row inmate Jeffrey David Matthews until corrections officials learned the only dose had expired, according to court records.
Matthews, 38, was scheduled for lethal injection Aug. 17 for murdering Otis Short, 77, during a 1994 McClain County burglary.
A federal judge stayed Matthews' execution after his attorneys raised concerns about the substitute sedative. Prison officials later obtained a dose of sodium thiopental, but the judge said there could be other issues and kept an Oct. 15 hearing and would not lift the stay to expire on Oct. 16.
Two days before Matthews' stay expires, Donald Ray Wackerly II, 40, is scheduled to be executed for the 1996 murder of Pan Sayakhoummane, 51, during a Sequoyah County robbery.
Assistant Attorney General Greg Metcalfe told the judge the dose of sodium thiopental is earmarked for Matthews and the Corrections Department plans to use another sedative, pentobarbital, for Wackerly's execution. Veterinarians use pentobarbital for animal euthanasia and it is the legal drug for physician-assisted suicide in Oregon.
The judge noted Wackerly's right to file a lawsuit challenging the use of pentobarbital. As of Friday afternoon, Wackerly had not filed a lawsuit.
Before the year ends, the state attorney general's office may ask the state Court of Criminal Appeals to set two execution dates, said spokeswoman Emily Lang. John David Duty faces execution for the 2001 strangulation death of his cellmate in 2001; and Billy Alverson faces execution for the 1995 fatal beating of a store clerk in Tulsa.
Read more: http://newsok.com/drug-shortage-delays-executions/article/3494471#ixzz0zPuw5ulD
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