Monday, February 28, 2011
News Georgia Department of Corrections accused of flouting federal law
Posted by Gwynedd Stuart @gwynnstu on Mon, Feb 28, 2011 at 5:34 PM
It was bad enough — or, at least, really confusing — when we discovered that Georgia got its supply of the lethal injection drug thiopental from a creepy, unlicensed company that operates out of the back of a driving school.
Now, a Washington, D.C. law firm is claiming that in doing so, the Georgia Department of Corrections violated several federal laws that dictate how drugs are procured.
Attorneys with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (sounds made-up, I know), the firm representing Georgia death row inmate Andrew Grant DeYoung, have issued a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder claiming that the GDOC "resorted to unlawful means" to get its hands on thiopental, the first drug in a three-drug cocktail used in state-sancitoned executions.
Allegedly, the GDOC failed to register with the DEA as an importer of thiopental and also failed to declare the shipment of drugs when it came in last year — both would constitute violations of the Federal Controlled Substances Act, according to the complainant firm.
There's been a shortage of thiopental in the U.S. since 2008 (the only domestic manufacturer recently announced it was halting production). If there's a demand, why isn't there a supply? Probably because there isn't much money in it. Records show that the GDOC wired the equivalent of just $340 to British distributor Dream Pharma on July 21, 2010 for 50 vials of thiopental.
The letter requests a Department of Justice investigation into the matter.
The GDOC wasn't prepared to comment on the claims when we contacted them earlier today. Spokesperson Kristen Stancil said they are "reviewing the letter" and will eventually issue a statement.
Comments (5)
Showing 1-5 of 5
objection, your honor: not relevant.
honestly, it makes no difference where the state obtains their lethal injections. better save your energy for a real story.
like
dislikeNormally. I would agree, Wesley. However, suppose that this somewhat shady drug supplier did what many shady drug dealers do -- adulterated or substituted the drug.
Death penalty opponents challenged the use of sodium thiopental in executions after a study in the medical journal The Lancet showed that autopsies of executed inmates demonstrated that the level of thiopental in their bloodstream wasn't enough to cause unconsciousness.
The legal standard for an execution requires death to be painless. And if the state is going to kill a man for breaking the law, it shouldn't be breaking the law while killing him.
Getting put to death for killing someone else should not be painless, it should hurt like hell. Those executed by the state should be terrified as they die, not relaxed.
I respectfully disagree, though I understand your perspective on this. I have seen the grief of the family of murder victims, too often. The urge to hurt someone who has hurt us is a universal impulse. And to an extent, it is even a moral one.
But we don't kill murderers just because they took someone's life -- the executioner kills someone, and we don't take that person's life. We kill murderers because they broke the law, and their crime in our judgment requires their death to protect ourselves and to serve as an example.
Yes, it is punishment, too. But not only that.
Inflicting pain needlessly in the name of "punishment" comes at the cost of serving the law and our own interest. Even if taking a man's life is morally justifiable, inflicting unwanted and inescapable pain on another only for our pleasure is never moral. It's sadism.
I know, I know. I'm on a comment board. Everyone gets to be a sadistic asshole behind a screen name. It's cathartic. Accept it.
I think most people reading Creative Loafing accept that the government has almost certainly executed innocent people, and that racial and socio-economic biases make it more likely for poor black people to be sentenced to death for the same crime committed by rich white people. The death penalty system is not perfectly just, though a death sentence might be expected to require perfect justice.
But, sure. Let's execute people sloppily, with disregard for the law. Because that will certainly convince people that the procedure leading a criminal to the needle is delivered with great respect for the law.
Good point but as long as we are going to execute people in this country then one of the few things that will scare these folks into not committing crimes is the realization that it will hurt when they get killed by the state.
I also do not understand why they bother putting death row inmates on suicide watch. Let them kill themselves and save the taxpayer $$$.
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