Protected by secrecy laws, some states with the most active death chambers are refusing to disclose important elements of how inmates are killed by lethal injection.
Justine Zwiebel/BuzzFeed
Ever since Oklahoma botched the execution of an inmate, states' execution protocols and the secrecy surrounding lethal injection drugs have been front and center, with lawyers and advocates raising questions about the way states are killing convicts.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
On Tuesday, June 17, Marcus Wellons, a Georgia inmate, could become the first person to be executed since the botched Oklahoma execution in April. Wellons, who raped and murdered a 15-year-old girl, was denied clemency on Monday, as his lawyers continued to fight the method of his execution in court.
Over the past few years, states with the death penalty have faced shortages of the drugs used in lethal injections after several drugmakers, including those in Europe, have refused to sell their drugs for the purpose of executions.
States have resorted to using drugs manufactured by compounding pharmacies, which are not heavily regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, raising concerns about the safety and efficacy of the drugs. To cope with the shortage, some states have also changed their execution protocols, trying new drugs or untested combinations of lethal injection drugs.
Prison officials is many states have refused to disclose information regarding the sources, purity and in some cases, contents of the execution drugs. Some states with the most active death chambers — including Florida, Georgia, and Missouri — have adopted secrecy laws to protect the identities of the compounding pharmacies, citing concerns of threats and intimidation by anti-death penalty advocates.
Changes to execution protocols, coupled with confidentiality laws, have spurred many lawsuits by death row inmates who argue that the new methods do not ensure a humane death and are therefore unconstitutional.
The rulings in such cases have been inconsistent. Some judges have delayed executions, calling for closer scrutiny of drug secrecy policies. Others have brushed aside such concerns, citing them as "speculation" or stating that secrecy is vital to safeguard the business interests of pharmacies and to ensure supply of the drugs.
Attorneys for death row inmates and critics of the death penalty say it is impossible for the courts to determine whether executions are humane and constitutional if the states keep information about the source and purity of the drugs secret from lawyers, judges, and the public.
The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to halt an execution based on a state's refusal to reveal its drug supplier.
These 13 states have carried out the most executions since 2005. This is how secretive they are.
The death chamber at the federal penitentiary in Huntsville, Texas in this Sept. 29, 2010 handout.
REUTERS/Jenevieve Robbins/Texas Dept of Criminal Justice/Handout
No comments:
Post a Comment