Utah Republican Gov. Gary Herbert signed into law a bill Monday authorizing the use of firing squads to carry out death penalty executions in the event that correctional officials can't obtain lethal injections drugs due to shortages.
While lethal injection remains the primary execution method for Utah and the other 31 states that allow the death penalty, Herbert said Utah needs "to have a fallback," though he admitted it's "not our preference," the Guardian reported.
"Those who voiced opposition to this bill are primarily arguing against capital punishment in general and that decision has already been made in our state," Marty Carpenter, spokesman for Herbert, said in an emailed statement, according to the Guardian. "We regret anyone ever commits the heinous crime of aggravated murder to merit the death penalty and we prefer to use our primary method of lethal injection when such a sentence is issued. However, when a jury makes the decision and a judge signs a death warrant, enforcing that lawful decision is the obligation of the executive branch."
Many lethal injection manufacturers are refusing to sell their drugs to correctional facilities after botched executions last year in Ohio, Oklahoma and Arizona. The Ohio prisoner snorted and wheezed for 26 minutes before the injection drugs killed him, while the Oklahoma inmate took 43 minutes to die as he struggled against his constraints. The Washington Post reported that the Arizona death row inmate gasped 640 times over two hours before dying - certainly not as pain-free as it was thought to be.
Speaking to the Associated Press in 2010, Fordham University Law School professor Deborah Denno went as far as calling the firing squad a "dignified execution."
"Lethal injection, which has the veneer of medical acceptability, has far greater risks of cruelty to a condemned person," she said.
It's unlikely Utah will use the firing squad anytime soon, though. The state has only executed seven people since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1972. Nine inmates currently sit on death row, and the state isn't expected to schedule another execution for several years.
The only other state to currently allow executions by firing squad is Oklahoma under special circumstances, but a number of other states are working to legalize alternative execution methods in the event of lethal injection drug shortages.
