Activists argue for more transparency for death penalty
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- How secret should executions be?
That was the central question at the legislature surrounding House Bill 774. It would conceal the source of lethal injection drugs and remove the requirement that a qualified physician be present at all executions. The bill would instead allow any medical professional to assist in the execution.
"The roadblocks in our state in front of the death penalty have stopped us from using that punishment," bemoaned bill sponsor Rep. Leo Daughtry (R-Johnston Co.).
Daughtry wants to remove some of those roadblocks, including a difficulty in finding doctors willing to oversee executions and a difficulty getting drugs.
Increasingly, execution drugs have been harder for states to get as mainstream manufacturers and once-international sources have stopped providing them. Which is why, according to Robert Dunham with the Death Penalty Information Center, states are turning away from transparency.
"They are trying to protect the identity of the pharmacies to obtain the execution drugs," Dunham said.
Daughtry spoke to that Thursday saying if people know the manufacturers of drugs used in executions, "There will be 300 people outside the building and that is a thing we don't want to have occur."
Sarah Preston, with the ACLU, pushed for transparency.
"Decisions about life and death should not be made in secret," said Preston. "If North Carolina is going to continue to sentence people to death, the process must be transparent and accountable to the citizens in whose name this ultimate and irreversible penalty is carried out. As botched executions in Oklahoma and other states have shown, inadequate oversight of these procedures can have horrific consequences."
The House-passed bill could get a vote in the Senate next week.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
