Lethal-Injection Bills Approved by Senate Panel

The Senate Judiciary Committee, trying to reduce court challenges of death penalties, voted Tuesday to give condemned prisoners a choice between lethal injection and the gas chamber.

By 6-0 votes, the panel approved two bills designed to head off claims like the one raised before the execution of Robert Alton Harris in April--that killing inmates in the state’s gas chamber is unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

“Adding the alternative (of lethal injection) in my opinion minimizes the probability of any such challenge being validated,” said Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco), the author of one of the measures.

The other author, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Camarillo), described lethal injection as “the only form of execution devoid of any pain.”

But Emma Childers, a lobbyist for the Friends Committee on Legislation, disagreed, saying that evidence from other states suggests that lethal injection can be painful.

“We don’t think there is a humane way to kill another human being,” she added.

Harris, 39, was put to death April 21 for killing two San Diego teen-agers. He was the first California inmate to die in the gas chamber in 25 years.

Four days before the execution, Harris’ attorneys filed a suit in federal court in San Francisco challenging California’s use of the gas chamber, saying it amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.