USA - Arkansas. The Arkansas House of Representatives approved legislation today that will likely speed the resumption of executions

The Arkansas House of Representatives approved legislation today that will likely speed the resumption of executions in the state if it becomes law. House Bill 1706 passed 79-11. The legislation codifies the three-drug protocol recently approved by the U.S. Supreme Court into state law and exempts the execution process from the state's Administrative Procedure Act and the Freedom of Information Act, shielding it from public review or participation. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, Department of Correction officials and Gov. Mike Beebe asked Sheridan Democrat Bobby Pierce to sponsor the bill, Pierce said. Prison officials have said they will maintain the current chemical protocol and public scrutiny of executions, but the bill leaves both up to the Department of Correction's director. The Administrative Procedure Act would subject it to scrutiny by the General Assembly and the public. The bill now goes to the Senate.