Overview
- The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard testimony Tuesday on Senate Bill 11 and plans amendments by week’s end, with a committee vote expected next week.
- The bill would allow a firing squad if lethal-injection drugs are unavailable or if an inmate selects that method at least 30 days before the scheduled execution.
- The proposal details a five-officer squad chosen by the warden, confidentiality for participants, and a procedure using four live rounds and one blank unknown to shooters.
- Opponents from the Indiana Public Defender Council, ACLU Indiana, Death Penalty Information Center, and Indiana Catholic Conference argued the change is unnecessary, inhumane, and expands secrecy, and no witnesses testified in favor at the hearing.
- Backers cite pentobarbital scarcity and costs approaching $300,000 per dose, and Gov. Mike Braun has disclosed $1.175 million spent on doses last year, including about $600,000 that expired.