States across the U.S. should reevaluate and ultimately reconsider the death penalty following a botched execution in Oklahoma on Tuesday, April 26.
The execution via lethal injection of inmate Clayton D. Lockett went horribly wrong after being administered a sedative and two drugs, a paralytic and one intended to make the heart stop, according to The New York Times.
Reportedly after receiving the drugs Lockett’s body twitched, his foot shook and he mumbled, witnesses said, according to the New York Times article. Officials later ruled that Lockett had experienced “vein failure” and therefore was not unconscious.
All states that employ the death penalty, not just Oklahoma, need to examine Tuesday’s gruesome incident through a critical lens and reevaluate and reconsider capital punishment.
Lockett’s execution was in no way humane and completely violated an inmate’s constitutional right not to suffer cruel or unusual punishment.
Without effective sedation the drugs used in Lockett’s execution are known to cause agonizing suffocation and pain, according to The New York Times. Lockett died of a heart attack 43 minutes after the initiation of a procedure that was supposed to be quick and painless.
Lethal injection is the default method of execution in almost all states employing capital punishment because it is believed to be the most humane option. Other methods include death by firing squad, hanging, electrocution and gas chamber, according to Death Penalty Information Center.
The problem with lethal injection is that the drug combinations used are often untested and suppliers are not disclosed. This was the case in Lockett’s execution, and lawyers said the lack of supplier information made it “impossible to know if the drugs were safe and effective,” according to The New York Times.
What landed Lockett on death row is sickening—convicted of sexually assaulting and shooting Stephanie Neiman, 18, then burying her alive after she and a friend walked in on a 1999 home invasion and robbery, according to The Washington Post.
However, if the goal of the criminal justice system is to be better than the criminals it has imprisoned then it has failed.
Ultimately the death penalty should be expelled.
As a country we disguise vengeance with justice and fall victim to the same immorality as the criminal.
This ideal, however, is not forthcoming; sixty-three percent of Americans favor the death penalty as the punishment for murder and it is viable in 32 states.
If the end of capital punishment is not in sight, the method of lethal injection needs to be reconsidered.
A dangerous cocktail of mystery drugs made the supposedly “humane” process of lethal injection nightmare-ish.
Authorities cannot be sure moving forward that this will not happen again unless detailed care is taken evaluating Lockett’s case and lethal injection drug reform or regulation is imposed.
Rachel Heard can be contacted at rheard@keene-equinox.com