USA - Virginia. The House of Delegates passed legislation to allow the use of the electric chair

The Virginia House of Delegates passed legislation (HB 815) today to allow inmates to be executed via electric chair if the state lacks the necessary drugs for lethal injection. The bill passed on a 62-33 vote after Del. Jackson H. Miller, R-Manassas, delivered a graphic retelling of the 2006 murder of Richmond's Harvey family. The killer in that case, Ricky Javon Gray, is scheduled to be executed March 16, but the the Virginia Department of Corrections has said it lacks the drugs needed to put Gray to death. Condemned Virginia inmates have been able to choose between lethal injection and the electric chair since 1995. Just seven of 87 inmates executed since then have chosen the chair. Miller has argued that the state's ability to "carry out justice" could be jeopardized if an inmate chooses lethal injection and no drugs are available. The bill, House Bill 815, now goes to the Senate.