Racial Bias in Lethal Injections Persists, Study Reveals
Despite decades of evidence of racial discrimination in the US criminal justice system, a new study has uncovered that these biases extend beyond courtrooms and prisons into the execution chamber.
The study, conducted by the legal action nonprofit Reprieve, analyzed all recorded conducted and attempted lethal injection procedures in the last half-century. The findings, published in a report released Thursday, focus on 73 botched executions out of 1,407 total executions between 1977 and 2023 — what researchers called the modern era of capital punishment.
The study found that Black people have a significantly higher chance of experiencing a botched execution than white people. About 8 percent of executions of Black people compared to 4 percent of white people were botched during that time frame. Arkansas, Georgia, and Oklahoma had the highest “observable” racial disparities when administering lethal injections.
Lethal injections first became legal in Oklahoma in 1977 and quickly spread to other states. Proponents claimed it would be a quick and humane way to put people to death, but there is no evidence to support this. According to the report, lethal injections frequently result in botched executions that result in prolonged and painful deaths.
Indicators of these botched executions included the person speaking and moving, visible reactions to pain, experiencing an allergic or violent reaction to the drugs, or the executioner having difficulties locating veins or administering the drugs.
The study found that hasty executions of multiple people, the secrecy of methods, illicit procurement of execution drugs, and the use of low-quality or untested drugs increased rates of botched and prolonged executions. Most pharmaceutical companies will not allow their drugs to be used in these procedures due to “moral” reasons, but their absence means lethal injections are not standardized.
Researchers call for a moratorium on all lethal injection procedures at the federal and state levels and ask legislators in the 30 states that have capital punishment to repeal secrecy laws in light of the findings of massive racial disparities.
The report has also sparked calls to allow witnesses to witness executions and for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the drugs used to kill people.
The study’s findings underscore the ongoing need to address racial bias in the criminal justice system, including the use of capital punishment.
