California officials have abandoned a legal fight over their bid to secretly overhaul the state's execution method, a move that sends the issue back to square one and leaves San Quentin's newly-constructed execution chamber idled for the foreseeable future.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration decided not to appeal November's ruling by a state appeals court, which found that prison officials failed to follow proper administrative procedures when they attempted to revise California's lethal injection method without any public input. State lawyers had until Dec. 31 to appeal to the state Supreme Court, but have decided instead to follow the administrative rules and put the execution plan through public review, likely including public hearings.
Deputy Attorney General Michael Quinn, who is handling the issue for the state, had no timetable on the administrative hearings, saying officials are now evaluating how to move forward. Brad Phillips, who represents 2 death row inmates in the case, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The latest development marks another tangle in California's bid to overcome various legal challenges to its execution method and resume lethal injections on the state's death row, which now houses about 770 condemned murderers. Executions have been on hold for nearly 3 years, the result of a federal court challenge to the lethal injection method, which death row inmates argue is inhumane.
A federal judge in San Jose 2 years ago found the state's lethal injection procedures "broken,'' but invited state officials to devise improvements, ranging from upgrading the training of execution team members to replacing San Quentin's antiquated death chamber. Prison officials and the governor responded with new execution procedures, but those were challenged separately in state court because of the failure to expose them to public review.
In the meantime, prison officials completed construction of a new execution chamber.
The end of the state court battle does not end the legal wrangling over lethal injections. The federal court case remains on hold until the state comes up with a valid plan to improve the way executions are carried out. Even when the administrative hearings are complete and the state finalizes new procedures, they will face further scrutiny in the federal case, ensuring more delays.
John Grele, who represents death row inmate Michael Morales in the federal case, could not predict how the administrative review will impact the ongoing challenge to lethal injection.
"I can't really say if it's a positive or negative,'' Grele said. "It depends on how things go through that process.''
Source: Mercury News, January 7, 2009
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration decided not to appeal November's ruling by a state appeals court, which found that prison officials failed to follow proper administrative procedures when they attempted to revise California's lethal injection method without any public input. State lawyers had until Dec. 31 to appeal to the state Supreme Court, but have decided instead to follow the administrative rules and put the execution plan through public review, likely including public hearings.
Deputy Attorney General Michael Quinn, who is handling the issue for the state, had no timetable on the administrative hearings, saying officials are now evaluating how to move forward. Brad Phillips, who represents 2 death row inmates in the case, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The latest development marks another tangle in California's bid to overcome various legal challenges to its execution method and resume lethal injections on the state's death row, which now houses about 770 condemned murderers. Executions have been on hold for nearly 3 years, the result of a federal court challenge to the lethal injection method, which death row inmates argue is inhumane.
A federal judge in San Jose 2 years ago found the state's lethal injection procedures "broken,'' but invited state officials to devise improvements, ranging from upgrading the training of execution team members to replacing San Quentin's antiquated death chamber. Prison officials and the governor responded with new execution procedures, but those were challenged separately in state court because of the failure to expose them to public review.
In the meantime, prison officials completed construction of a new execution chamber.
The end of the state court battle does not end the legal wrangling over lethal injections. The federal court case remains on hold until the state comes up with a valid plan to improve the way executions are carried out. Even when the administrative hearings are complete and the state finalizes new procedures, they will face further scrutiny in the federal case, ensuring more delays.
John Grele, who represents death row inmate Michael Morales in the federal case, could not predict how the administrative review will impact the ongoing challenge to lethal injection.
"I can't really say if it's a positive or negative,'' Grele said. "It depends on how things go through that process.''
Source: Mercury News, January 7, 2009
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