The companies and pharmacists that provide the state with drugs for lethal injections are one step closer to keeping their identity hidden. The South Dakota Senate passed Senate Bill 36 with no opposition Tuesday afternoon. State law already protects the identity of the person administering the intravenous injection in death sentences, and this bill expands that to also cover any person or entity that supplies the drugs. Senator Jean Hunhoff says she supports the bill because it makes getting those drugs easier for South Dakota.
“This is because there’s been harassment that has occurred against non-protected manufacturers and pharmacists, thereby causing difficulty for the state in obtaining the necessary chemicals for the lethal injection,” Hunhoff says.
Hunhoff says Senate Bill 36 also increases the penalty from a Class 2 to a Class 1 misdemeanor for revealing the identity of those protected by the legislation. The bill next moves to the House Judiciary Committee.