Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) and Democratic Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes are set to bring back executions of prisoners on death row in the state after they put the practice on a hiatus two years ago.
When Hobbs and Mayes took office in 2023, they suspended capital punishment in the state, citing a pending review of Arizona’s death penalty process.
Hobbs then appointed, via executive order, former U.S. Magistrate Judge David Duncan as a commissioner to undertake the review. Arizona has a history of unsuccessful executions, which is what prompted the review in 2023. Duncan was set to review Arizona’s procurement process for lethal injection drugs and lethal gas, execution procedures, the access of news organizations to executions, and the training of staff to carry out executions.
Last week, Hobbs ended Duncan’s review and said she had lost confidence in it. She said…
