California has not executed an inmate since 2006. Now, the state has proposed a new lethal injection protocol that would allow the warden to choose one of four drugs to kill prisoners on death row. Two of those drugs have never been used before.

Though the changes were announced on Nov. 6, it could be years before the state is legally cleared to carry out another execution. The regulation changes come on the heels of a lawsuit that was filed by crime victims, one of which included former NFL star Kermit Alexander.

As of November 2015, California had 749 inmates sitting on death row, the most of all states, but executions have been on hold due to political opposition. In 2012, California had dozens of inmates who had been on death row for over 30 years.

In 2006 California Halts Executions

In 2006, the courts tossed the state's protocol that called for a three-drug cocktail. So, now the state has come up with a new protocol that involves injecting one of four barbiturates, either: amobarbital, thiopental, secobarbital, or pentobarbital.

Two of them have been used in many executions, but they are getting harder for prisons to get ahold of. Amobarbital and secobarbital have never been used in the U.S. for executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which is against capital punishment.

Kent Scheiddiger of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation said that while the supply problem is significant, it's not insurmountable. Scheiddiger said that Texas has managed to obtain supplies to carry out its barbiturate-only executions, and dozens have been performed without incident.

California voters approved the death penalty in 1978, however, only 13 murderers were executed before a federal judge banned lethal injections in 2006 after finding that the three-drug protocol was excruciatingly painful.

Are you facing the death penalty? Contact a criminal defense attorney immediately to secure a hard-hitting defense!