USA - Ohio. Senate approves execution-secrecy bill.

Senate approves execution-secrecy bill. The Senate Thursday passed 20-10 Substitute House Bill 663, legislation that would allow companies that provide lethal-injection drugs to the state to remain anonymous for 20 years and that would prevent medical licensing boards from disciplining physicians who assist with executions or testify in court in death-penalty proceedings. The measure now returns to the House, where approval is expected next week as the legislature wraps up its work for its 2-year session. The bill would forever keep confidential the identities of execution-team members and physicians and shield the identities of compounding pharmacies that prepare lethal-injection drugs for 20 years after their state contracts expire. The Senate Criminal Justice Committee added a 2-year sunset provision under which the law would expire unless the measure is renewed. Lawmakers want to see how the secrecy changes work before potentially extending them. Execution-team members and pharmacies granted confidentiality during the 1st 2 years would retain those protections even if the law expires. The bill also calls for appointment of a joint Senate-House committee to review the "means and manner" by which Ohio executes the condemned amid controversy over the fatal drug combinations concocted to replace drugs no longer made available by their manufacturers.