Faith leaders decry plan to shield execution drug suppliers

Published April 18, 2016

A group of religious leaders is denouncing Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe's effort to shield the identities of pharmacies that supply drugs for executions.

About a dozen members of an interfaith coalition gathered Monday at the Statehouse to urge lawmakers to reject the proposal. The Democrat's plan replaced a bill that sought to allow the use of the electric chair if the lethal drugs aren't available.

Several states have adopted secrecy laws in an effort to make the drugs easier to obtain by protecting suppliers from critics.

Bishop Carroll Baltimore is the former president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention. He said when states must resort to "secrecy or brutality" to keep "the machinery of death going," what they're doing is wrong.

Lawmakers are expected to consider McAuliffe's proposal Wednesday.

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https://www.foxnews.com/us/faith-leaders-decry-plan-to-shield-execution-drug-suppliers