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| Alabama May Allow Lethal Injection |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 01/03/2003 |
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The Alabama Legislature passed a bill Thursday to change the primary method of execution in Alabama from the electric chair to lethal injection. If the measure is signed by Gov. Don Siegelman, Nebraska will be the only state in the country that uses the electric chair as the primary method of execution. The legislation calls for lethal injection to be used in any executions following July 1, unless the inmate asks to die in the electric chair. Deputy press secretary Rip Andrews said the governor wants to study the bill, but has said he favors the change. Siegelman and state Attorney General Bill Pryor had urged the Legislature to change the method of execution because of concern the U.S. Supreme Court could declare the electric chair to be cruel and unusual punishment. 'This legislation will remove one of the many filings that clog the courts to delay justice,' Pryor said. The lethal injection bill passed the state Senate earlier in the session and was approved by the House on a 86-0 vote Thursday. The Senate later Thursday concurred with a technical amendment added in the House, giving the bill final passage. 'Lethal injection is a more humane and modern method of execution,' said the bill's House sponsor, Rep. Marcel Black. The speaker pro tem of the House, Rep. Demetrius Newton (news, bio, voting record), an opponent of capital punishment, said he abstained on the lethal injection bill. 'If you have lethal injection, at least it is a more humane way to do it,' Newton said. |
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