Legal News

Governator got raw deal with execution moratorium, switches tactics

By Richard Binder

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his lawyers have switched strategies in the legal battle to resume executions, agreeing to submit revised lethal injection protocols for public review rather than continue appealing state court decisions that the redrafted rules are illegal.

Although the move is intended to speed up a return of capital punishment, conservative law-and-order advocates and victims' rights groups expressed frustration over the persistent delays.

State officials predict the execution procedures could be approved by a state panel in six months to a year, clearing the way for a federal judge to lift a moratorium on executions.

San Quentin's death row, the nation's largest, houses 680 prisoners.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 24, 2009 (boomark / email).