BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana could withhold the names of companies that make the drugs used to execute state prisoners, under a bill that won support from the House criminal justice committee Tuesday.
The committee backed the measure by Rep. Joe Lopinto, R-Metairie, without objection after adopting an amendment that transformed the proposal.
Originally, Lopinto’s bill called for the electric chair to be added as an execution option in Louisiana, because of the shortage of lethal injection drugs nationally. But he rewrote the proposal to hide information about the manufacturers supplying lethal injection drugs as well as the identity of executioners.
Corrections Secretary Jimmy LeBlanc said that would help Louisiana move ahead with planned executions. He said the drug shortage is caused by companies that do not want to be publicly associated with the death penalty. As a result, executions in the country are becoming difficult.
“It’s very stressful … It’s very costly,” he said.
The refusal of some states to disclose information about companies that provide lethal drugs for executions has prompted national debate, and Louisiana’s attempts at secrecy are the subject of an ongoing federal lawsuit. Critics have said keeping information about executions secret makes it difficult to protect prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment.
Lopinto said if the state does not address the shortage, executions will be put on hold since lethal injection is the only approved way to execute in the state. He said Louisiana will run out of execution drugs by May of next year.
“What is our alternative?” he asked the committee. He said lawmakers should discuss what to do if the state can no longer get lethal drugs.
LeBlanc said Louisiana should look into nitrogen gas as a way to execute prisoners, arguing that the gas causes no pain.
Members seemed to think the electric chair should not be considered as an alternative. Rep. Terry Landry, D-New Iberia, said he was glad the amended bill was “taking the plug out of the electric chair.”
Rep. Barbara Norton, D-Shreveport, said she could not believe they were discussing how to put someone to death.
Opposition to Lopinto’s bill came from Rob Tasman, associate director for the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops, who argued with Rep. Austin Badon, D-New Orleans, on whether the Catholic Church accepts the death penalty.
While Badon said the church has not taken a position on the death penalty, Tasman said it disapproves of executions in most cases and said lawmakers should not be discussing ways to kill someone.
“I find it reprehensible,” Tasman said, referring to the debate. He said maybe the shortage on lethal drugs is a sign that the country should stop executing prisoners.
However, members unanimously supported moving the measure to the House floor where it will be debated further.
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Online:
House Bill 328 can be found at www.legis.la.gov
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