Lethal Injection Decision Expected Soon

Lethal Injection Decision Expected Soon

by Death Penalty Focus Monday Nov 20th, 2006 10:18 PM

The subject of lethal injection will be a hot topic in the media as soon as U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel issues his ruling on the constitutionality of California's lethal injection protocol. We expect this decision to be announced in the near future. -->

Death Penalty Focus 870 Market St. Ste. 859 San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel. 415-243-0143 - Fax 415-243-0994 - http://www.deathpenalty.org

Take Action Lethal Injection Decision Expected Soon

The subject of lethal injection will be a hot topic in the media as soon as U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel issues his ruling on the constitutionality of California's lethal injection protocol.

We expect this decision to be announced in the near future.

We encourage all of you to take this unique opportunity to write to your local papers, post comments on a blog, or call into your favorite talk radio shows whenever lethal injection is being discussed or written about. Politicians, opinion leaders, and judges who may rule on the case in the future, will be closely watching how the public responds to the ruling.

They will gauge this response based on what they hear in the media. Watch and respond to coverage in your local community. Applaud favorable articles, point out inaccuracies or bias in unfavorable articles, or simply state your own response to what you are hearing (e.g., I am trouble by the evidence that was presented....)

Newspapers choose the letters they will publish based on the total number of letters they receive on a given topic. Therefore it is important to generate as many good letters as possible, and even if your letter doesn't get printed, it may cause them to run another good letter with a similar message.

Most importantly, use this as an opportunity to bring out core messages about what's wrong with the death penalty. For example, "the troubling evidence presented underscores that the death penalty just doesn't work: race and poverty determine who lives and who dies, innocent people are being put to death, etc.”

Please also see the messaging tips below. Tips for writing a Letter to the Editor 1) Letters to the Editor should be no more than 250 words. 2) Always include your full name, city and a phone number where you can be reached. The paper will not print your phone number but they will use it to verify the authenticity of your letter. 3) Whenever possible refer to an article or editorial (on lethal injection) that appeared in the newspaper you are writing to. 4) Letters to the editor can be sent directly from our website: http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=letters&menu=1" or from your newspaper's website.

Lethal Injection Message Points Core Messages

1) The death penalty is failed public policy which drains valuable resources away from programs that actually increase public safety and serve the needs of victims. So why are we trying so hard to fix it? Now is the time to abolish the death penalty.

2) Chaos and confusion dominate California’s executions making it inevitable that botched executions will continue to occur. A growing body of evidence demonstrates that the state blindly adopted the current lethal injection procedure from Oklahoma and began carrying out executions without any research, methodological investigation, and even more shockingly, without providing training to the prison staff.

3) California’s prison system is in crisis and the execution process is just one more example.

The California prison system is turning a blind eye to the mounting evidence of mistakes and simply carrying on with business as usual. The prison administration has known for years that there are many problems with the execution procedures and it has refused to fix them; instead, making the process as secretive as possible, so that the public is kept unaware of the inhumane killing of prisoners.

Highlights of Evidence Presented in Morales v. Tilton Chaos and confusion dominate California’s executions Members of the execution team testified that the room where they work is often so crowded that they cannot see what is going on.

One execution team member said she passed syringes of the lethal drugs to an outstretched hand, without knowing to whom she was giving the drugs. A doctor testified that the warden ordered him out of the room because it was too crowded. He also stated it was so dark, he had to use a flashlight to write notes. Lack of training for prison staff When asked about the training execution team members receive, one of the two medical personnel on the team responded, “training, what training?” None of the members of the team had read the execution protocol. None received training on the drugs used in the execution. Most members of the team do not even know what the lethal injection drugs do. IV bags and lines placed by “maintenance man” The person responsible for setting up the IV bag and lines is the prison “maintenance man.” The bag is placed so high, team members cannot even reach it during the execution. More than 17 feet of tubing is needed to get from the IV bag to the person’s arm.

Prison admits Williams’ execution botched The prison admitted that the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams was botched. Witnesses watched the execution team member struggle for several minutes trying to insert the second IV line. Finally, she gave up in frustration. One team member said “it’s not working.” The warden ordered the execution to proceed. The prison claims that this was a “lesson well learned.”

Yet, the current protocol actually makes it more likely that similar mistakes will happen again. Drugs used for lethal injection not even used on animals A leading expert in animal euthanasia testified that, because of the high likelihood that the animal would suffer a painful death, it would be inhumane to kill an animal using the combination of drugs and procedures used in California executions. Controlled substances are unaccounted for after executions The drugs used in the execution procedure are dangerous controlled substances. Guards “check out” these drugs in order to “practice” for the execution, but only water is used in the practice session and the drugs are never returned. Guards check out three times as many drugs as they need for the actual execution and never return or document disposal of the excess. The prison’s own expert witness testified that if he were in charge of the pharmacy, he would be “very concerned about where those drugs were.” This is a violation of federal regulations and a crime.

For more information, visit DPF's lethal injection page: http://www.deathpenalty.org/index.php?pid=Lethal&menu=1

" Stefanie L. Faucher Program Director Death Penalty Focus 870 Market St. Ste. 859 San Francisco, CA 94102 Tel. 415-243-0143 Fax 415-243-0994

mailto:stefanie [at] deathpenalty.org

http://www.deathpenalty.org
http://www.californiamoratorium.org

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/11/20/18331510.php