RICHMOND, Va. (AP) _ The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would allow the state to execute condemned inmates in the electric chair when it can’t find lethal injection drugs. The bill passed the GOP-controlled Senate with a 22-17 vote Monday after a passionate debate. The Republican-dominated House has already approved the bill. Virginia is one of at least eight states that allow electrocutions, but currently gives inmates the choice of lethal injection or the electric chair. If they don’t choose, they receive the injection. Like many states, Virginia has struggled to obtain lethal-injection drugs in recent years because drug companies have protested their use in executions.
