Researchers have known for decades that the U.S. criminal justice system is discriminatory against Black people, but this new study by Reprieve, a legal action nonprofit, provides disturbing evidence of racial bias in the execution chamber.
The report analyzed 1,407 lethal injection procedures conducted between 1977 and 2023, and found that Black people are 220 percent more likely to experience a botched execution than white people. Researchers attribute this disparity to a lack of oversight and illegal practices by state officials, including the use of low-quality or untested drugs.
The report also found that botched executions are more common in states like Arkansas, Georgia, and Oklahoma, where racial disparities in the administration of lethal injections are most pronounced. In Arkansas and Oklahoma, Black people comprise about a third of the prison population but account for 75 percent and 83 percent of botched executions, respectively.
Lethal injections were first introduced as a supposedly humane method of execution, but the report’s findings challenge this claim. Botched executions have been found to be prolonged and painful, with some people showing signs of choking, vomiting, and bleeding. The report also raises concerns about the secrecy surrounding lethal injection procedures, which may conceal the true extent of botched executions and the suffering inflicted on prisoners.
The report’s findings highlight the need for a moratorium on lethal injection procedures and for legislators in states that have capital punishment to repeal secrecy laws. It also recommends that witnesses be allowed to witness executions and for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the drugs used to kill people. The report commends states like Ohio, Arizona, and Virginia for stopping these methods and conducting independent reviews.
The use of nitrogen gas as an execution method, as recently implemented in Alabama, has also drawn criticism from anti-death penalty advocates and international leaders for its inhumane nature.
