After the Senators on the Courts of Justice Committee approved the House Bill No. 815, the full Republican-controlled Senate may approve such legislation into law, bringing back the electric chair as Virginia's default method of execution due to the difficulty of obtaining the drugs used in lethal injections.
The legislation, sponsored by Del. Jackson Miller, R-Manassas, has strengthened the ongoing controversy over whether or not capital punishment through electric chair as an execution method is humane or cruel and unusual punishment.
But, the scarcity of lethal injection drugs has caused a crisis in the states. Miller's bill provides that if the director of the Department of Corrections certifies that lethal injection is not possible, electrocution can be used instead, regardless of the prisoner's choice.
The effectiveness of some new formulations of lethal injection drugs has also been questioned. Miller's bill offers a way around the drug supply issue. He said it is not an expansion of the death penalty but a way to make sure the determination of the justice system is carried out.
State officials were desperately searching for the drugs for the March 16 execution of convicted killer, Ricky Gray, one of Virginia's seven remaining death row inmates.
"Either way, Ricky Gray will die very quickly, with very little, if any, pain. The numerous victims of Gray did not get a choice on how they wanted to die. And neither should Ricky Gray," Miller said.
Miller concluded, "It is our job ... to finish the task of justice."
Lisa Kinney, a spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said it currently lacks enough pentobarbital, a sedative that is one of the chemicals required by the state's lethal injection protocol to carry out the execution.
She said that the department has been unable to acquire the first drug in the three-drug cocktail used for lethal injection, putting Gray's scheduled execution in doubt.
Tennessee has recently taken the same action as the Virginia lower house, authorizing the electric chair if lethal chemicals are not available. Last year, Utah adopted firing squads as its back-up execution method. Although, neither states has thus far employed that alternative method since passing their new law.
