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| Photo by Brian Baer |
The day it was published, Nov. 6 2015, Sacramento sent representatives to San Quentin and Central CA Women's Facility to present each Condemned with their own copy of the 149 page Notice of Change to Regulations, Title 15. This section (3349.0 - 3349.9) deals with executions, which have not occurred in California since 2006, they have been at a standstill, basically waiting for better drugs to use.
The effective date is to be determined. This fact was not made clear to those on the Rows, and a suicide watch was implemented.
The proposed regulation gives details on the protocol once a condemned person is scheduled for execution, from where they will be housed, to who will stand watch over them, their last meal, and which new drugs the prison has a choice of.
California may be ready to try a single drug "cocktail" to kill their citizens with, the choices are ; Amobarbital, Pentobarbital, Secobarbital, Thiopental. "The San Quentin Warden shall determine which chemical shall be utilized to perform the execution," (p. 11, Subchapter 4. General Institution Regulations. 3349. Method of Execution.)
The condemned do have a choice of ways to go; either lethal injection strapped to a table, or lethal gas alone in a chamber. Dan Morain stated it well, "... death at the hands of the People for crimes against the People, in full view of strangers, is most ignoble." [Witness to the Execution: A Macabre, Surreal Event
April 22, 1992|DAN MORAIN | TIMES STAFF WRITER]
An article in the Sacramento Bee said, “The newest regulations are the latest attempt by the state to resume executions and come as the result of a lawsuit filed last year by the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation on behalf of family members of murder victims." They quoted Kent Scheidegger, of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in Sacramento, a pro-death penalty organization, "This sets in motion the process by which we can actually resume executions in California,” “I think it’s going to happen. I am very optimistic.”[Will California begin executions again under new method? Christopher Cadelago and Sam Stanton]
There are about 16 men in line for execution, one is Kevin Cooper. Judge William Fletcher published 101 page dissent when the 9th Circuit turned down Cooper's appeal. Judge Fletcher stated that they have evidence the prosecutor and law enforcement falsified and destroyed evidence in Cooper's case, among other major issues in the case.
Further progress towards resuming State killings in CA occurred Nov. 12, 2015:
“In a unanimous ruling, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a federal judge's sweeping decision last year finding California's death penalty system unconstitutional because of decades-long delays in the handling of death row inmates' appeals.” [California death penalty: legal obstacle to executions removed By Howard Mintz]
The last execution in CA, Jan. 17, 2006 :
Clarence Ray Allen, of Choctaw heritage, was legally killed by lethal chemicals a short time after his 76th birthday, the second oldest person executed by the U.S. after 1776. Mr. Allen was also disabled, "Allen, who turns 76 on Jan. 16, uses a wheel chair. An advanced case of diabetes has left him legally blind." [After Williams, a new dilemma for governor / Next: Gravely ill and blind man, 75, scheduled to die. Jim Doyle, Chronicle Staff Writer, December 14, 2005]
"Allen received the first of three lethal injections at 12:20 a.m. He then was given an extra dose of potassium chloride, the lethal chemical that stops the heart, at 12:35 a.m.," [By Stephen Smith AP January, 2006. Clarence Allen, 76, Executed]
Sacramento Bee:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article43441407.html#storylink=cpy
Will CA Begin Executions? :
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_29108045/california-death-penalty-legal-obstacle-executions-removed
Clarence Ray Allen: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarence_Ray_Allen
Execution of Robert Alton Harris:
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-22/news/mn-509_1_gas-chamber/2
Link to the proposed execution changes:
http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Regulations/Adult_Operations/docs/NCDR/2015NCR/15-10/NCR%2015-10%20Notice%20of%20Proposed%20Regulations.pdf
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