[JURIST]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Arizona [official website] signed an order [text] on Thursday accepting major revisions to Arizona's death penalty procedures. The order provides such changes like eliminating paralytic drugs for lethal injections, providing witnesses with more access to watch prisoners inside the death chamber, limitations on the department director's authority to change drugs, and time allotted to prisoners to challenge any drug changes. The changes are the result of a settlement reached in a 2014 lawsuit [Reuters report] brought by seven death row inmates who argued Arizona's policies were experimental and caused unnecessary suffering. The deal is the first time any state has agreed to major changes in death penalty procedures due to prisoners' complaints.