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Maryland Lethal Injection Regulations Pulled

By Steve Hall

"Md.'s halt to executions will continue; lethal-injection drug scarce," is the title of John Wagner's report in today's Washington Post. Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration announced Thursday that it is withdrawing proposed regulations needed for executions to resume in Maryland, effectively extending a four-year moratorium on the death penalty. Administration officials said the move was prompted by a U.S. company's recent decision to halt production of one of three drugs used for lethal injections in Maryland and many other states. The administration's proposed regulations specifically call for use of the drug, a powerful anesthetic known as sodium thiopental. Rick Binetti, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, said officials plan to submit new regulations to a legislative panel after reviewing a broad range of alternatives, including alteration of the state's use of a three-drug protocol...continue to full post

Full post as published by StandDown Texas Project on February 11, 2011 (boomark / email).