Judge Accepts Sweeping Reforms of Arizona Death Penalty Protocols
Source: Reuters
June 22, 2017, at 8:39 p.m.
(Reuters) - A U.S. judge accepted on Thursday major revisions to Arizona's death penalty procedures, such as eliminating paralytic drugs in lethal injections and giving witnesses more access to watch prisoners inside the death chamber, a lawyer for the death row inmates said.
The changes were part of a settlement reached in a 2014 lawsuit brought by seven death row inmates who argued Arizona's lethal injection practices were experimental, secretive and caused inmates prolonged suffering.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Neil Wake in Phoenix signed an order that in effect authorized a deal reached between the state and the lawyers for death row inmates, according to Dale Baich, a lawyer for the death row litigants.
. . .
The deal marked the first time a state had agreed to such major changes in its drug protocol and execution procedures because of prisoners' complaints, Baich said.
Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-06-22/judge-accepts-sweeping-reforms-of-arizona-death-penalty-protocols
