State Senate OKs Lethal Injection Option
The Senate on Thursday approved and sent to the Assembly a bill by state Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco) that would offer Death Row convicts the choice of being executed by fatal injection or lethal gas.
Assembly Speaker Willie Brown has predicted that the legislation will win approval in the Assembly, where Democrats are no longer expected to kill bills relating to the death penalty.
The Kopp bill is aimed at undercutting a pending lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, which argues that death by cyanide gas in California violates constitutional protections against cruel and unusual punishment.
The ACLU filed the challenge in an unsuccessful last-minute attempt to spare double-murderer Robert Alton Harris from execution in the San Quentin gas chamber in April.
Under the Kopp bill, approved 24-4 by the Senate, a condemned prisoner would be given the opportunity to state a choice in writing, but could make a change if time allowed.
Some supporters of execution by lethal injection say it is more merciful than inhaling cyanide gas, an assertion disputed by the Friends Committee on Legislation, which opposes capital punishment.
Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter
Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond. In your inbox three times per week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
