RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 3 (UPI) -- North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley was among several state officials who voted this week not to revisit a dispute over the state's current death penalty policy.
While the North Carolina Medical Board voiced its concern regarding the involvement of doctors in state executions, the Council of State voted this week not to revisit the controversial state practice, the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal said Wednesday.
Easley was quick to point out that the council's vote Tuesday was about reconsidering doctors' involvement in executions and not on the state's use of the death penalty.
While current state policy requires a doctor be present during a lethal injection, the North Carolina Medical Board ruled in January to stop state doctors from participating on ethical grounds.
The state's commissioner of insurance, Jim Long, said that the final decision in the matter could soon become a federal affair.
"The final decision is probably going to come from the U.S. Supreme Court," Long told the Journal.
