A bill that would change California​’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dure unan­i­mous­ly passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on April 20. Senate Bill 1018, authored by Sen. Tom Harman, would require the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to devel­op and imple­ment a one-drug lethal injec­tion process involv­ing an appro­pri­ate anes­thet­ic. California has had a de fac­to mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions since February 2006 when a fed­er­al judge held that the state’s 3‑drug lethal injec­tion sys­tem con­sti­tut­ed an ​“uncon­sti­tu­tion­al risk of cru­el and unusu­al pun­ish­ment.” California state courts have also ruled that changes to the exe­cu­tion method must go through a peri­od of pub­lic noti­fi­ca­tion and com­ment. The state con­duct­ed pub­lic hear­ings and thou­sands of com­ments were sub­mit­ted regard­ing a revised 3‑drug pro­to­col for exe­cu­tions. That process is near com­ple­tion, though court chal­lenges are possible.

(“Bill to change California’s lethal injec­tion pro­ce­dure moves for­ward,” KPCC, Southern California Public Radio, April 20, 2010). In November 2009, Ohio became the first state to adopt a one-drug lethal injec­tion pro­to­col, and has car­ried out five exe­cu­tions using the new sys­tem. Darryl Durr was exe­cut­ed in Ohio on April 20 by the 1‑drug method. During the exe­cu­tion, he raised his head and shoul­ders, and was seen to con­vulse spas­mod­i­cal­ly. His attor­neys had indi­cat­ed he might have an aller­gic reac­tion to the anes­thet­ic. (Columbus Dispatch, Apr. 21, 2010). The state of Washington has also adopt­ed the 1‑drug method but has not had any exe­cu­tions since the adop­tion. See also Lethal Injection and Recent Legislative Activity.

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