Will the Lethal Injection ‘Be Back’?
Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger has temporarily postponed a man’s execution date in California. Albert Greenwood Brown was scheduled to die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday but has now been rescheduled for 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. This could be the first execution for the state of California in five years. Brown’s attorneys have filed both state and federal appeals cases claiming that California illegally adopted the lethal injection procedures and that lethal injection is a cruel and unusual punishment.
The lethal injection process contains three drugs. The first drug is two shots of sodium thiopental, a sedative to make the prisoner unconscious. If the first two shots do not work effectively, a third and fourth shot can be given. Once the prisoner is unconscious, he or she is given both pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride, which are the lethal drugs.
Ironically, if Brown is not executed by Friday, the sodium thiopental will expire. There is only one company in the entire United States that makes the drug and they will not be able to ship any more sodium thiopental until next year.
Michael Morales, another death row inmate, received a temporary reprieve. September, 14, 2010 was his scheduled court date to determine his execution date. It has since been cancelled due to the drug shortage. Morales was originally scheduled to be executed on February 2006 but was granted a stay of execution two hours before the scheduled execution time. His stay of execution was granted by a federal judge who wanted to revamp the state’s capital punishment system calling it cruel and unusual punishment.
Brown’s attorneys have asked the state to grant him a stay of execution until Morales’ case of cruel and unusual punishment has been resolved. Three other inmates were scheduled to be executed in the near future but may have their execution dates postponed due to the drug shortage.
So, will the lethal injection ‘be back’ in California or will the state decide to overhaul its capital punishment system? That is the question of life and death for Albert Greenwood Brown.
