The Virginia legislator who successfully proposed lethal injection as a form of execution in Virginia said he has no objection to Gov. Tim Kaine’s moratorium on the practice.
“He’s erring on the side of caution,” Delegate Phillip A. Hamilton, Newport News Republican, said last week.
On Tuesday, Mr. Kaine delayed the execution of a man who killed a Winchester police officer until the U.S. Supreme Court decides whether lethal injection violates the constitutional provision against cruel and unusual punishment.
He also delayed all other executions in Virginia that would be due before the high court issues a ruling.
Mr. Hamilton introduced the legislation on lethal injection after a conversation with a constituent in the summer of 1990 in a supermarket parking lot.
Two months later, Mr. Hamilton read a news account of a Virginia execution where blood dripped onto the shirt of the electrocuted man, apparently having spurted from his nose and ears.
He concluded, after some research, that electrocution is like “microwaving you from the inside out” as electricity boils the internal organs.
Mr. Hamilton first introduced the bill in 1991, and only one member of the House Courts of Justice Committee supported it — Delegate George Allen, a Republican who went on to serve as the state’s governor and U.S. senator.
The bill faced an unusual coalition of opponents.
Some lawmakers did not support the death penalty in any form, while proponents of capital punishment thought that lethal injection was not a fitting punishment for someone who had committed a heinous crime.
As part of his research, Mr. Hamilton witnessed two executions — an electrocution in the summer of 1993 and the first Virginia execution by lethal injection in 1995, the year after the General Assembly approved his bill.
The electrocution “from my perspective, went off without a hitch,” Mr. Hamilton said. “There was no blood, no smell.”
The same was true for the death by injection. As Mr. Hamilton told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the drugs were administered, the prisoner took a deep breath and became still.
He said he wanted to see executions for himself because some questioned how he could propose changing the method, never having seen one before.
In 1994, his bill finally passed the House of Delegates on a 57-36 vote during a late-night floor session.
The debate and the moment the bill was approved remains etched in his memory.
“That whole experience with that piece of legislation, it was an emotional issue,” he said. “I actually think it passed at 11:54 p.m.”
• Doo-wop to-do
Maryland lawmakers agreed to protect doo-wop singers from musical impersonators.
The House passed a bill Friday night that would make it a crime to put on a concert claiming a false connection to famous performance groups.
Several other states have approved the “Truth in Music Advertising” law to address the practice of unscrupulous promoters assembling singers that pretend to be original members of oldies groups.
The bill, which already had passed the Senate, allows fines of us to $15,000 for impostors. Tribute bands or spoof acts would not be affected.
• Pope on politics
Catholic University’s president told a national TV audience yesterday that Pope Benedict XVI follows U.S. politics but probably won’t weigh in on the presidential race during his visit.
Father David O’Connell said in an interview on CNN’s “Late Edition” that the 80-year-old pontiff is very sharp and understands the subtleties of Washington politics. He said Pope Benedict will be consistent with his message on abortion and other issues, but likely won’t tell people how to vote.
Father O’Connell said the pope’s visit should be a celebration and “time of renewal” for American Catholics. He said the church has been through hard times with the scandals of priests sexually abusing children. But he said the pope’s visit to New York and Washington later this month is focused on the future.
Pope Benedict is scheduled to give 11 speeches and homilies during his visit, including one at the Catholic University of America in Northeast.
• Run for a cure
Members of the Capitol Hill staff of Virginia Rep. Robert J. Wittman will enter a footrace this summer to raise money for cancer research in memory of his predecessor, the late Jo Ann Davis.
Mr. Wittman, a Republican, won a special election in December to succeed Mrs. Davis, who died of breast cancer in October. She was 57.
Mrs. Davis was Virginia’s first female Republican U.S. House member, and she had represented the 1st District since 2001.
More than 50,000 people from across the country are expected to take part in the Susan Komen National Race for the Cure on June 7. The 5-kilometer run-walk event starts on the Mall.
• This column is based upon wire service reports.
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