USA - Arkansas. Governor signs new lethal injection law.

Governor signs new lethal injection law. Gov. Mike Beebe's office said today that he signed legislation (SB 237) that rewrites the state's lethal injection law, despite his misgivings about the death penalty. The new law spells out in greater detail the procedures the state must follow in carrying out executions. It says the state must use a lethal dose of a barbiturate but leaves it up to the Department of Correction to determine which one. The legislation came up after the Arkansas Supreme Court struck down the state's 2009 lethal injection law last year (see June 22, 2012). The new law means Arkansas could potentially resume capital punishment, but court challenges may further delay the state from executing a prisoner for the 1st time since 2005. (see also February  7 and 14, 2013).