Weeks after four Department of Corrections employees who work on death row quit out of fear that their names would be made public, a Bellingham lawmaker has filed a measure that would bar the release of the identities of state employees who carry out executions.

Late Tuesday, Sen. Dale Brandland, R-Bellingham, introduced a bill that would forbid the release of names and other identifying information of execution team members. Earlier this month four people who have volunteered to administer lethal injections to death-row inmates at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla quit out of concern that their identities could be revealed as a result of an ongoing court case.

A Thurston County judge is deciding whether lethal injection constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. Two death penalty cases have been stayed because of the court challenge; a third defendant on death row has joined the challenge.

Superior Court Judge Chris Wickham will hear the death penalty argument in the three cases next month. Defendants Darold Stenson and Cal Coburn Brown had their execution dates stayed, Jonathan Gentry's case is still working through the appeals process.

Seattle attorney Sherilyn Peterson, who is representing Stenson, said that Brandland's proposal is unnecessary since they are asking Wickham to review the qualifications and credentials of the execution team members, not release their names.

"We see this as a last-minute rush to solve a problem that doesn't exist," Peterson said.
"It's a complete non-issue. The courts have adequate means to protect the identities of executioners."

Seattle attorney Jeff Ellis, president of the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, said in an e-mail today that "the public has a right to know whether members of an execution team are qualified to do the job that has been assigned to them."

"Better than banning disclosure, we should ban the death penalty," Ellis added.