ACLU Challenges Maryland’s Death Penalty (1/20/2006)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: media@aclu.org
Seeks to Block Executions Until State Complies with the Law BALTIMORE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today called for an
immediate halt to executions in the state. The lawsuit, filed in Baltimore City
Circuit Court, says the regulations that govern the state’s administration of
the death penalty violate the law.
“The Division of Corrections ignored the mandated public process when
developing its lethal injection procedures -- which resulted in protocols that
do not comply with the law,” said Deborah A. Jeon, Legal Director for the ACLU
of Maryland. “There is no free pass that exempts the DOC from compliance,
especially when the protocol in question spells out how individuals are put to
death.”
The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services’ Division of
Corrections has been solely responsible for adopting regulations that set forth
the proper procedures for carrying out death sentences. The ACLU contends
that several of the DOC’s regulations conflict with the Death Penalty statute.
Most significantly, they use an additional drug in the lethal injection
“cocktail” that was not approved by the legislature. Additionally, the DOC did
not comply with the notice and comment requirement of the state’s Administrative
Procedure Act. The ACLU lawsuit also says that the DOC failed to provide
adequate training for the personnel charged with carrying out executions.
“If not administered properly, death by lethal injection is extraordinarily
painful and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment,” said Meredith Curtis,
Public Outreach Director of the ACLU of Maryland. “As more and more incidents of
faulty executions are reported across the country, it is especially important
that Maryland stop putting inmates to death until the protocol gets the thorough
and public discussion it deserves.”
The ACLU of Maryland joined the Baltimore City Branch of the NAACP and
Maryland Citizens Against State Executions in challenging the validity of the
regulations set forth in the DOC’s Execution Operations Manual. The serious
issues raised by today’s legal filing are especially pressing because the state
is scheduled to execute Vernon Evans the week of February 6, 2006.
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