ACLU: Lethal Injection Violates 1st Amend.
SAN FRANCISCO -- The American Civil Liberties Union claimed Wednesday that California's lethal injection method violates the First Amendment rights of execution witnesses by not allowing them to see if the inmate is experiencing pain before death. The federal lawsuit says the only reason San Quentin State Prison officials inject a paralyzing agent is to sanitize the execution and prevent witnesses from perhaps seeing convulsions. The paralyzing drug, according to the lawsuit, "makes it impossible for witnesses to determine whether death row inmates in California are being subjected to substantial and unnecessary pain before dying." The induced paralysis, the group argued, conceals significant information to which the public is entitled.
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Posted by Editor at March 15, 2006 10:37 AM