(AP) - California corrections officials are delaying their new lethal injection regulations by four months, pushing back this week's deadline until late August.
The move announced Monday drew immediate criticism from a legal foundation that sued to force the corrections department to switch to a single drug to carry out the death penalty.
No inmates have been executed in California since 2006. The state's death row is by far the nation's largest.
Corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton could not say why the department sought the delay.
State regulators rejected the department's initial proposal in December.
Voters in November approved a ballot measure designed to speed up executions, in part by ending the need for the department to receive regulators' approval. The California Supreme Court is expected to rule by August on legal challenges.
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