A bill expanding Indiana’s execution methods was significantly amended Tuesday after lawmakers voted to remove nitrogen hypoxia as an option and added provisions on media access and mental health support.
House Bill 1119, authored by Rep. Jim Lucas, R-Seymour, is still pending a final full chamber vote which must take place by Monday for the bill to continue moving through the legislative process.
Among the adopted amendments were two from Rep. Alex Zimmerman, R-North Vernon, including a major deletion of nitrogen hypoxia as an execution method.
Zimmerman cited constitutional concerns and described the method as “physically putting a mask over someone’s face and pumping nitrogen into their body.”
“Nitrogen hypoxia is not an acceptable method of carrying out the penalty of death,” he told the chamber.
The amendment ultimately passed 58-32 with bipartisan support.
The addition of a firing squad as an option remains in the bill along with lethal injection — the only method currently permitted in Indiana. The commissioner of the Department of Correction would choose the method used.
Firing squad, gas execution methods move out of House committee
Another amendment from Zimmerman would allow “at least one” media witness to be present during state executions, selected by the department.
Zimmerman said the change would increase transparency, noting that Indiana and Wyoming are the only states that don’t specifically allow journalists to be present at executions. Lucas said the amendment, which passed unanimously, “brings a level of reasonable and responsible transparency.”
Currently the only opportunity for an independent media witness is if the condemned inmate invites one.
Lawmakers also overwhelmingly adopted an amendment from Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, which expands mental health services for execution team members, including education on mental resiliency, warning signs of PTSD and state-funded treatment.
“People struggle with the long-standing trauma that accompanies taking someone’s life,” Garcia Wilburn said. “It goes against our God-given nature to take another human life.”
Two other amendments failed.
One proposal from Rep. Bob Morris, R-Fort Wayne, would have similarly required professional psychological counseling for those who carry out Indiana executions and directed a study on firearm caliber for firing squads.
Morris said it was “very disturbing” that former execution team members counsel current participants.
A different amendment offered by Rep. Matt Pierce, D-Bloomington, sought to remove confidentiality protections surrounding lethal injection drugs and their sources.
“When a court sentences someone to death, it’s done in the name of all of us,” Pierce said. “I think that we should not try to keep secret from the people of the state what is being done in their name. We should know what kind of drug is actually being used and where it came from. That shouldn’t be some secret.”
Meanwhile, a Senate proposal authorizing firing squads effectively died after committee leaders declined to hold a vote to advance the measure to the full chamber.
The move to add firing squads is an attempt to deal with the high cost of pentobarbital used in Indiana’s execution process.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.