Yesterday, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed HB 774 to defeat some of the tactics used by the anti-death-penalty crowd to hinder lethal injection.
The bill provides that the monitoring of the lethal injection may be done by a health professional other than a physician. Physician participation was included as a safeguard for the inmate and then exploited by opponents, saying it was unethical for physicians to participate. Let no good deed go unpunished.
The bill exempts execution procedures from the Administrative Procedure Act. There is no legitimate need to so encumber the procedures, as they are subject to intense judicial scrutiny anyway.
The bill removes the excessive legislative detail regarding the drugs to be used, giving the state authorities the flexibility needed to deal with improving methods and drug shortages.
Finally, the bill provides for confidentiality for suppliers of the drugs so that supply will not be blocked by a "heckler's veto." This post by Craig Jarvis at the website of the Raleigh News & Observer originally misreported that the bill kept the drugs themselves secret, but it has now been corrected.
The bill provides that the monitoring of the lethal injection may be done by a health professional other than a physician. Physician participation was included as a safeguard for the inmate and then exploited by opponents, saying it was unethical for physicians to participate. Let no good deed go unpunished.
The bill exempts execution procedures from the Administrative Procedure Act. There is no legitimate need to so encumber the procedures, as they are subject to intense judicial scrutiny anyway.
The bill removes the excessive legislative detail regarding the drugs to be used, giving the state authorities the flexibility needed to deal with improving methods and drug shortages.
Finally, the bill provides for confidentiality for suppliers of the drugs so that supply will not be blocked by a "heckler's veto." This post by Craig Jarvis at the website of the Raleigh News & Observer originally misreported that the bill kept the drugs themselves secret, but it has now been corrected.
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