Oklahoma is investigating last week's execution of Clayton Lockett — so horribly botched one witness said, "It looked like torture." The state used a mixture of lethal drugs never used before in that combination. Lockett was conscious for several minutes before dying of a heart attack. The state Supreme Court tried to delay his execution, but the legislature and the governor threatened impeachment, and the justices let it go ahead. Similar incidents in other states have raised questions about drugs used for lethal injections. Are they "cruel and unusual'' or does the punishment fit the crime? Why is there so much secrecy about the death penalty, as public support is declining?
The Death Penalty Faces Another Trial
More
- Blecker's 'The Death of Punishment: Searching for Justice among the Worst of the Worst'
- Cohen on how Lockett's botched execution affects the death penalty divide
- Cohen on need for political will, moral courage to make changes in death penalty
- JaS on why fair, impartial courts matter
- Justice at Stake on how court tampering played a roll in botched OK execution
- Morris Hoffman's 'The Punisher's Brain: The Evolution of Judge and Jury'
- National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty on the death penalty in the US
- Obama on Lockett's execution, the death penalty
Credits
Guests:
- Andrew Cohen - senior editor at The Marshall Project, and a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice - @JustADCohen
- Robert Blecker - New York Law School - @RobertBlecker
- Diann Rust-Tierney - National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty - @NCADP
- Bert Brandenburg - Justice at Stake Campaign - @JusticeStake