HB 658 aims to provide lethal injection confidentiality

A bill that would allow non-disclosure protections for entities to carry out the death penalty, such as lethal injections, was approved by the House Judiciary Committee this week after making its way through the committee process.

Rep. Greg Chaney, R-Caldwell, first presented the bill to the House State Affairs Committee, on Monday, Feb. 14, to testify and answer any questions.

“It has long been the policy of the state of Idaho to make it available in certain cases, the death penalty,” Chaney told the committee. “Around the country there has been ongoing efforts to repeal the death penalty but would fall void in a conservative legislature such as this to do legislatively the courts have refused to overturn the death penalty on constitutional grounds and the current makeup of the United State Supreme Court isn’t like to see that change anytime soon.”

Many organizations oppose the death penalty and have created a concentrated tactic to “leverage woke cancel culture to shame providers of lethal injection drugs away from providing those drugs for executions for the state,” Chaney said.

With the bill, no provider without the statutory protections will provide the means for the state to carry out executions.

“As long as it remains the policy of the state of Idaho that the death penalty be available, it is us, as legislators, that makes that determination for a jury to impose because its the one sentence that a judge cannot impose,” Chaney said. “It is the people of the state of Idaho imposing it (death penalty) by their membership on a jury as long as that is our policy, we must make way for the practical ability to carry it out.”

The alternatives result in the repeal of the death penalty, which Chaney refuses, the return of the firing squad, hanging or electric chairs.

"We can need to provide the necessary statutory framework so the people will participate with us in acquiring those substances," Chaney said.

Chaney requested that the bill be presented to the House Judiciary Rules & Administration Committee, and Rep. Skaug made the motion that the bill should be printed and moved to that committee.

On Thursday, Feb. 17, Chaney met with the House Judiciary Rules & Administration Committee to discuss the legislation, now numbered House Bill 658.

The bill will provide confidentiality to any person or company who compounds, synthesizes, tests, sells, supplies, manufactures, stores, transports, procures, dispenses, or prescribes the chemicals or substances for use in an execution or that provides the medical supplies or medical equipment for the execution process.

“It's been the policy of the state of Idaho that the death penalty or capital punishment is an appropriate punishment to impose in certain circumstances,” Chaney said. “It is not something that we take lightly, it's not a conversation that we have frequently but it is nonetheless the policy of the state of Idaho that continues and that is a policy that I support.”

Rep. Chaney continued by saying, “the problem is that currently our ability to carry out the sentence that has been imposed is impaired and it’s impaired by the inability to procure the lethal injection drugs without protections provided to the identity of those who provide them.”

The panel of lawmakers were told it is difficult to find suppliers willing to provide the state of Idaho the necessary drugs to perform lethal injections.

“What has happened throughout the country most recently in Texas in 2015 is that once the identity of these suppliers is known they are named and shamed and the one-time transaction for the chemicals is simply not worth the public relations nightmare and it'll here today that has created some practical issues,” Chaney said.

After presenting HB 658, Chaney yielded to Brain Kane from the Attorney General’s Office.

“The first responsibility is that we ensure that the verdicts of juries are defended on appeal including capital litigation cases,” said Kane. “The second responsibility is to ensure that we have the ability to defend the policy pronouncements of the Idaho legislature as you have enacted them through statutes.”

House Bill 658 ensures confidentiality of the specific individuals involved with execution. Confidentiality in these circumstances can be protected.

“It’s been publicly reported by folks that are opposed to the death penalty but is a lot easier to persuade the folks on these lists than the United States Supreme Court,” Kane said. “It is a tactic that is being deployed and so it comes down to a question for you all as legislators as to what you want the policy of the state of Idaho to be going forward.”

Chaney finished by saying “it was not before us a question on the ultimate appropriateness of capital punishment by lethal injection, however, functionally speaking it is, functionally speaking they don't have an avenue to move forward.”

The House Judiciary Rules & Administration passed HB 658 and the bill moves to the full House.

Abigail Grant is an intern with the University of Idaho McClure Center for Public Policy Research and the UI JAMM News Service.