Texas Execution Study Proposed

AUSTIN, Texas — Under a resolution approved Wednesday, Texas voters would decide whether to halt executions for two years to give the state time to study its system of lethal injection.

The Senate Criminal Justice Committee approved the measure 4 to 3. If approved by the Legislature, the resolution would go before voters in November.

“Texans ought to have a chance to vote on their death penalty system,” said Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, who sponsored the resolution.

The committee also passed a companion measure calling for the study of the death penalty system. Shapleigh said he wants to examine the case of each inmate on death row. Texas executed 40 inmates in 2000, making it the most active death penalty state. Six have been put to death this year.