Louis Hansen
The Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK, Va. — An old method for punishment on death row might be making a comeback - or going away altogether.
A shortage of lethal injection drugs has led Virginia lawmakers to reconsider the electric chair as the default mode for final punishment.
At least two proposals are working through the General Assembly. One would give the Department of Corrections an opportunity to override a prisoner’s choice of lethal injection if drugs are unavailable. Another bill would eliminate the century-old execution chair.
States across the country are struggling to get lethal injection drugs. Several pharmaceutical companies have been unwilling to sell states the ones necessary for the fatal combination.
Virginia has eight men on death row, including two from Norfolk. Anthony Juniper was convicted in 2005 of killing four people, including his ex-girlfriend and two small children. Thomas A. Porter was found guilty in 2007 of murdering a police officer. The state executed one person last year.
Prisoners on death row in Virginia are given a choice of execution methods - lethal injection or the electric chair. Virginia is one of eight states that allows electrocution, although it is rarely used in many of them, according to the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers, many based in Europe, have been reluctant to provide one of the three drugs typically used for execution. Several countries oppose the death penalty, and some have banned the export of drugs to be used for executions in the United States, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Dieter said the lack of drugs has delayed or halted executions in some states. The electric chair is very unusual, he said. “If it’s an attempt to get around lethal injection, it would definitely run into judicial review,” he said.
Overall, the pace of executions in the country has declined. The number peaked at 98 in 1999 and dropped to 39 last year, according to the center.
In October, corrections officials spoke to state senators about the challenges of securing the three-drug protocol. Officials also noted that “legislation is needed to allow electrocution as a default method,” according to a corrections report. A spokeswoman for the department confirmed it was concerned about the drug shortage and was looking for other options to carry out death sentences.
A bill presented by Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, would allow the Department of Corrections to decide whether the prisoner’s chosen method is not available. Miller said the bill would allow electrocution if lethal injection drugs are unavailable.
It’s not about expanding the death penalty, the former police officer said. “The justice system needs to be upheld. The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst.”
But Del. Scott Surovell, D-Mount Vernon, said electrocution is an unreliable and antiquated way to carry out the sentence. Surovell introduced a bill that bans electrocution, first used in Virginia more than a century ago.
“It’s a 19th century technology,” Surovell said. “Virginia needs to get up to speed with the rest of this country.”
Virginia has electrocuted three prisoners since 2009, Surovell said. The electric chair was used most recently in January 2013.
Surovell said the chair also puts taxpayers at risk for more lawsuits. Attorneys have argued the method amounts to cruel and unusual punishment, although the U.S. Supreme Court has not banned it.
Miller said either process can be complicated. The bills, HB1052 and HB942, are scheduled to be considered by a House of Delegates panel Thursday.