Governors Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection
Public Comment Submission
I cannot attend the meeting of the Governor’s Commission on the Administration of Lethal Injection, but would appreciate having this email statement submitted to the Commission.
Section 922.105(7) provides that the Department of Corrections is not required to follow Chapter 120 of the Florida Statutes when developing its policies and procedures for the execution of persons sentenced to death. I believe that it was a mistake for the Legislature to exempt the Department of Corrections in this instance.
The policies and procedures and methods for carrying out executions would be improved if the entire process could be open to public scrutiny. The procedures required by Chapter 120, if followed, would open up the process and would insure that expert testimony and information regarding the best method for eliminating pain during an execution using lethal injection, for example, would be fully discussed and considered, with adequate opportunity for public criticism and comment.
If Chapter 120 had been followed in the past there probably would have been no need for the present Governor’s Commission to have been convened by Governor Crist, because problems that could arise during executions would have been thoroughly considered and solved through the rulemaking provisions of Chapter 120.
Sincerely,
Bruce Jacob
Dean Emeritus and Professor
Stetson University College of Law