Firing squad execution bill fails in Indiana House but could advance later

INDIANAPOLIS (INDIANA CAPITAL CHRONICLE) — A bill to add the firing squad as an execution method in Indiana failed in the House on Wednesday, falling three votes short of the required constitutional majority.

The legislation could still be brought back for another vote before Monday’s legislative deadline, however.

Bipartisan opposition to House Bill 1119 doomed the measure with a 48-47 tally. In the 100-member House, a bill must earn at least 51 votes to advance or be defeated.

Nineteen Republicans and 28 Democrats voted against the bill, which would allow the Indiana Department of Correction to choose between lethal injection and a firing squad when carrying out death sentences.

A bill to add the firing squad as an execution method in Indiana failed in the House on Wednesday, falling three votes short of the required constitutional majority.

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