ATLANTA(AP)—Executions would be put on hold in Georgia and a commission would study the state's use of the death penalty, under legislation introduced Thursday by a Democratic lawmaker.

State Sen. Vincent Fort of Atlanta said the pair of bills is needed to ensure that the death penalty is applied fairly across race and income lines. A recent report by the American Bar Association raised questions about Georgia's death penalty.

The moratorium isn’t given much chance of succeeding. Republican leaders who control both chambers of the Legislature and Gov. Sonny Perdue have continued to endorse the death penalty, saying the appropriate checks and balances are already in place. Even prominent members of Fort's own party remain supporters.

Still, the legislation comes as California's battle over executions has thrust the death penalty into the spotlight. A federal judge's ruling that a licensed medical professional must take part in an execution there has left the state system in disarray. The judge wanted an anesthesiologist on hand to ensure that Michael Morales would not be in pain when he was put to death by lethal injection. But medical professionals have refused to participate, citing ethical concerns.

It is unclear whether the ruling in California will have implications in other states like—Georgia—which also use lethal injection.

The ABA report released last month said that Georgia is the only state which fails to provide legal counsel to indigent people once they are sentenced to death. Georgia is also alone in requiring a defendant to prove his mental retardation beyond a reasonable doubt, the highest standard of proof required.

The bar association report concluded that Georgia should place a moratorium on the death penalty until it addresses flaws in the system. The ABA has also called for a national moratorium on the death penalty.

Georgia has executed 39 people since 1976 and now has a death row population of 109, according the Washington D.C.-based Death Penalty Information Center.

Opponents of the death penalty plan to lobby state Lawmakers on Tuesday to push for a moratorium in Georgia.

Source: AP - AP Wire Service