An effort has started to keep the state’s executioner from doing his job in October and again in November.
The corrections department says it has a board-certified anesthesiologist who will administer the drug Propofol to prisoner Joseph Franklin on October 23rd. But the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri has asked the American Board of Anesthesiology to suspend its certification of the executioner. Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman says participating in an execution is against ABA standards. “A board-certified anesthesiologist may not participate in an execution,” he says.
Court documents identify the anesthesiologist only as “M3.” Mittman says it’s “highly improper” and “not very honest and transparent” for the state to claim it has an anesthesiologist but refuse to give the name to the professional certification board–so the board can review whether he should be certified.
Franklin is the first of two inmates scheduled by the state Supreme Court for execution. Inmate Allan Nicklasson is scheduled to die November 20th.