California seeks to improve lethal injection method
Mon Dec 18, 2006 5:31pm ET143

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered his staff on Monday to fix the state's use of lethal injection for executions so it satisfies a federal judge who declared it unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Jeremy Fogel in an opinion issued on Friday wrote that California's use of lethal injection was such a mess as to be "broken," but he said it could be fixed to withstand constitutional challenges.

"When properly administered, lethal injection results in a death that is far kinder than that suffered by the victims of capital crimes," Fogel wrote.

Fogel wrote that in six executions the prisoners may not have been properly sedated when the dose of a lethal chemical was administered. The judge gave the state 30 days to let him know how they planned to fix the system.

California's Republican governor responded with a promise of a top-down review of how California's executes condemned inmates to satisfy Fogel.

"I am committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure that the lethal injection process is constitutional so that the will of the people is followed and the death penalty in maintained in California," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Schwarzenegger directed his legal affairs secretary to work with the prison system over the next 30 days to establish a screening process for selecting execution team members and a comprehensive training program for handling drugs used in lethal injections.

Schwarzenegger also directed the officials to develop standardized records for each execution, to recommend improvements to California's death chamber at San Quentin Prison and to identify experts in other states to advise on California's lethal injection protocol.

Git 'er Done