() An Indiana legislator says the Hoosier State should consider switching its execution method from lethal injection to firing squad or hanging.
Republican state Rep. Jim Lucas recently told Indiana Capital Chronicle he is thinking about drafting legislation to allow such death-row alternatives as his state grapples with the cost and short shelf life of the drug pentobarbital. Indiana has put two inmates to death by lethal injection in the past year.
“These other methods are certainly a hell of a lot less expensive than our current method with lethal injection drugs,” Lucas said.
Republican legislative leaders said their GOP members haven’t had any significant discussions about changes to Indiana’s capital punishment law, although Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith recently signaled support for firing squads after Idaho adopted death by firing squad as the primary execution method in the Gem State.
Indiana Gov. Mike Braun in June said he wasn’t renewing the state’s supply of pentobarbital, given the cost and uncertainty of execution dates, and welcomed a broader discussion about capital punishment. Republican state Rep. Bob Morris has said he’ll re-introduce a measure to abolish the death penalty and replace it with life in prison without parole.
Twenty-seven states have the death penalty, with most using lethal injection as the primary method. Five states allow firing squads, usually as a backup for lethal injection.
