Arkansas state is planning rushed executions this month and for the worst reason. The state has a batch of the drug midazolam, a sedative that is given in lethal injections, that will expire soon. As a result they have decided to rush through as many executions as they can this month to use up the drug.
The rush to execute so many men in such a short period of time has many people worried. The executive director of the Arkansas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, Furonda Brasfield has said:
“This many executions just creates a huge, huge risk for a botched execution, which will lead to suffering. It’s truly unheard of for a state to this.”
The executions which are going to take place at the Cummins Unit will come up against protest by Brasfield’s group. She adds:
“Arkansas’ image will hurt because of these events.”
Gov. Asa Hutchinson is planning on moving ahead with the executions regardless of opponents who claim mistakes are more likely to be made. No other state has performed this many executions so close together. Hutchinson has come under fire for going ahead with them, Paul Greenberg of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has written an article saying Hutchinson should have to witness the executions himself. It does seem a strange reason to do it – such a risk just because the drugs are about to expire. The state also has to find 6 people per prisoner to witness the deaths, which is also proving difficult. Imagine the trauma of watching that.
These men scheduled for execution this month are eight of 34 men who are currently on death row in Arkansas.
Their names are Don Davis, Stacey Johnson, Jack Jones, Ledell Lee, Bruce Ward, Kenneth Williams and Marcel Williams. While they have all asked for a reprieve, Jones has asked to go ahead with his April 24 execution. Arkansas has not executed anyone since 2005.
It is not just about the executions being rushed and risk being botched.
It is also brings up many moral questions:
Do two wrongs make a right?
Is it ever right to kill someone?
What if the accused are mentally ill?
Who has to give the injection?
What if they have been wrongly convicted?
Like not having universal healthcare, the USA is also one of the only first world countries in the world to have not abolished the death penalty.
Stop the executions!
Watch this report:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8XPMs9UqX8
Featured image via YouTube.
