Saying it's time to stop letting convicted killers "get off that easy," a Florida state lawmaker wants to use firing squads or the electric chair for those on death row.
Rep. Brad Drake filed a bill this week that would end the use of lethal injection in Florida executions.
Instead, those with a death sentence would choose between electrocution or a firing squad.
Drake, a Republican, said the idea came to him after having a conversation with a constituent at a Waffle House over the legal battles associated
with last month's execution of Manuel Valle .
Valle's lawyers tried to stop the execution by arguing that a new lethal drug cocktail would cause him pain and constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
Drake said in a news release sent to the media that the bill was filed to "end the debate" over what drugs to use.
'Lead cocktail'
"We still have Old Sparky. And if that doesn't suit the criminal, then we will provide them a .45 caliber lead cocktail instead," he said in the release.
"I am sick and tired of this sensitivity movement for criminals. Every time there is a warranted execution that is about to take place, some man or woman is standing on a corner holding a sign, yelling and screaming for humane treatment," he added. "I have no desire to humanely respect those that are inhumane."
Valle, 61, fatally shot Coral Gables officer Louis Pena in 1978. He also shot fellow officer Gary Spell, who was saved by his bulletproof vest and later testified against Valle.
Florida Supreme Court
had temporarily halted the execution after Valle's attorneys argued the state's use of the drug pentobarbital in its three-drug lethal injection cocktail might not render Valle unconscious, thus subjecting him to significant pain when the other two drugs were administered.
Pena's son, also named Louis Pena, was 19 when his father was killed and now is 53.
After the execution, he noted that Valle's case worked through the courts for years, adding: "He killed a cop and lived 33 years. This man lived another lifetime after taking a life."
The Republican-controlled Florida Legislature will consider Drake's bill during the 2012 session.
The bill,
which is available online, says a change in the method of execution "does not increase the punishment or modify the penalty of death for capital murder."
"Nothing contained in this chapter is intended to require any ... employee of the Department of Corrections or any other person to assist in any aspect of an execution which is contrary to the person's moral or ethical beliefs," it adds.