Entries tagged with “Absolute Standards”
Secrecy
,Lethal Injection
,Jan 13, 2025
Connecticut Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Prohibit the Production and Manufacturing of Lethal Injection Drugs and Other Materials for Executions
On January 10, 2025, three Connecticut lawmakers introduced a bill that would make it illegal to manufacture and sell any drugs or medical devices in the state meant to carry out the death penalty. In 2024, Connecticut-based company Absolute Standards was identified as the source of lethal injection drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021. In a letter to the bill’s sponsors, John Criscio, President of Absolute Standards, said the company ceased production…
Executions
Lethal Injection
,Jul 02, 2024
Federal Execution-Drug Supplier Says It Will No Longer Produce Pentobarbital for Executions
Connecticut-based company Absolute Standards, which was identified as the source of lethal injection drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021, has said it will no longer produce the drug used in executions — pentobarbital. In a letter to two Connecticut lawmakers, John Criscio, president of Absolute Standards, said the company ceased producing pentobarbital in December 2020, and has “no intention to resume any production or sale of pentobarbital.” Mr. Criscio’s letter explains that…
Executions
Lethal Injection
,Federal Death Penalty
,May 06, 2024
Secret Execution Drug Supplier Confirmed, While Federal Death Penalty Reviews Continue at Department of Justice
Recent reporting by The Intercept confirms a story aired in April 2024 on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver identifying Connecticut-based Absolute Standards as the source of the execution drugs used in 13 federal executions in 2020 and 2021. Absolute Standards produces materials for calibrating research equipment, but in 2018, it applied to the Drug Enforcement Administration to be registered as a bulk producer of pentobarbital, the anesthetic used in federal executions and in many…
Issues
Secrecy
,Lethal Injection
,Apr 12, 2024
John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” Criticizes Execution Secrecy Laws and “Sketchy” Procurement of Pentobarbital by Federal Government
During the April 7, 2024, episode of “Last Week Tonight,” host John Oliver focused on “grim developments” in the death penalty since his last segment covering lethal injection in 2019. Since then, 91 people have been executed, including 13 federal prisoners during former President Donald Trump’s administration. “Our federal and state governments have continued to pursue questionably legal and definitely horrifying ways, that, again, I would argue they shouldn’t be doing at all,” Mr. Oliver…