Assemblyman Calls for Immmediate Halt to Executions in California

[The Straight Story]

Assemblyman Calls for Immmediate Halt to Executions
Written for the web by Elizabeth Bishop, Internet News Producer


Saying the state appears "hell-bent" on carrying out "what is essentially a medical experiment to execute a human tonight," a Democratic assemblyman is calling on Gov. Schwarzenegger to declare an immediate moratorium on lethal injection executions in California.

Assemblyman Joe Nation, D-San Rafael, wants California to halt all capital punishment for two years so that lethal injection, a three-drug cocktail administered to condemned inmates, can be studied.

The Sonoma County Democrat said not only is lethal injection an "experimental" method of death, but the medical profession's ethical concerns about participating in the procedure as well as what he said were medical complications with the execution of Stanley Tookie Williams in December justify a re-examination of how the state carries out capital punishment.

http://www.kxtv.com/storyfull2.aspx?storyid=16060