Times-Picayune: Louisiana delays executions until late June

[Stefanie Faucher]

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/11/louisiana_delay_executions.html

Louisiana delays executions until late June, The Lens reports
By Julia O'Donoghue, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
November 17, 2014 at 5:45 PM, updated November 17, 2014 at 7:22 PM

Louisiana has put state executions on hold until after at least June 25, when legal proceedings over the constitutionality of Louisiana's method of putting prisoners to death will be taken up next in court, according to The Lens.

Lawyers for Christopher Sepulvado, who was sentenced to death for killing a child in a brutal manner, have been challenging Louisiana's lethal injection protocol for the last several months.

The state intended to administer the same drug on Sepulvado that was used in botched executions in Ohio and Oklahoma. Questions were raised about whether Louisiana's lethal injection drugs would cause undue pain to Sepulvado and other people killed by the state.

Several states, including Louisiana, are having a difficult time securing a drug they prefer to use for executions. Many suppliers no longer want to provide the drug if it will be used to administer the death penalty. This means states are relying on new formulas, which could be leading to the execution problems.  

The June death penalty delay means the Louisiana Legislature's next session will come and go before another person is executed. Lawmakers took up a few bills that would have altered the proceedings around the death penalty last year, though none ended up passing into law. It's possible execution protocol could change before June as a result of the 2015 session.  

The Legislature has already set up a committee to examine the cost of carrying out the death penalty. There is also a study underway to research the best ways to administer executions -- possibly looking into alternatives to lethal injection for Louisiana.

Read The Lens report.

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Julia O'Donoghue is a state politics reporter based in Baton Rouge. She can be reached at jodon...@nola.com or on Twitter at @jsodonoghue. Please consider following us on Facebook at NOLA.com and NOLA.com-Baton Rouge.



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Stefanie Faucher
Communications Director
8th Amendment Project
sfau...@8thamendment.org
Mobile 510.393.4549
8thamendment.org