Prison officials inAlabamacontinue to be inundated with criticism after the execution of Joe Nathan James Jr. in July. The execution involved procedural anomalies, lasted over three hours and may have set a record. Longest execution in US history.
James, who was convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend Faith Hall in 1994, sought life imprisonment on the night of July 28, against the wishes of the victim's family. and was executed.
"Today is a tragic day for our family," Hall's family told WIAT in a statement . We have forgiven Joe Nathan James Jr. for wanting the state not to take a life just because it was taken...May God find healing for us from today onwards. I pray that one day our criminal justice system will be the cry of families like ours, even if it is against the will of the state.”
Not only that, but the executions themselves are roughly It took three and a half hours, and witnesses were not brought into the death chamber until James was sedated. When asked for his last words, he was unresponsive. According to both
Alabama prison officials andan independent autopsy of James' body, prison officials had difficulty placing his IV on him. After the execution, state officials said "cannot confirm" whether James was conscious during the execution.
Joe Nathan James Jr
(Alabama Department of Corrections)
Trial sponsored by human rights group Reprieve showed a purple bruise on James's hand where the IV was to be placed, indicating a scar on his wrist. He also had a cut on his arm, where a vein could be found for the lethal injection protocol to be delivered.
"Without local anesthesia, it would be very painful to slice an awake person deep into the skin with a sharp surgical knife." said Joel Zivot, an associate professor of anesthesiology and surgery at Emory University and an opponent of lethal injections. told The Atlantic: The fact that personnel cuts were made here is further evidence that the IV team was ill-equipped for the task in the most dramatic way.
James' sister Yvette Craig, , said in a statement last week that he wanted a full investigation into what happened. Alabama officials felt they were trying to set an example for her brother in an election year.
"Only [Alabama Department of Corrections] ADOC personnel know what happened during these three hours," she said. "At the very least, the authorities should have revoked the writ of execution and reconsidered the method of execution," she continued.
The Independent has reached out to her ADOC for comment.
Alabama defends how it handled executions.
"When enforcing final penalties, there are protocols that provide for a very careful process to ensure that court orders are properly enforced," state officials said. 65} after executing mentioned in statement. "The ADOC execution team strictly followed established protocols.
They initially claimed there was 'nothing unusual' about the execution, but she later claimed that IV He admitted that he had problems establishing the line.
Executions were a reminder of frequent and often cruel errors and misconduct inlethal injection cases,
observers said, and Common Death Penalty
"If the department does not know whether a prisoner is conscious or unconscious at the time of execution, they shall be executed. If the department knows but doesn't say it, they can't be trusted." 91} Maya Foa of Reprieve US told the newspaper
that in James' particular case, the delay was too long and resulted in unconstitutional, cruel and unusual punishment. claims.
"To inflict her three hours of pain and suffering on a prisoner is the definition of cruel and extraordinary punishment," she told The Guardian.The abominable practice of lethal injection is humane in every respect.
Alabama has previously been accused of failed executions.
In 2018, the execution was temporarily halted after authorities took Doyle Layham two and a half hours to give him an IV.
The Independent and the non-profit organization Responsible Business Initiative for Justice(RBIJ) advocate the death penalty in America. The RBIJ has attracted over 150 prominent signatories to a declaration against the death penalty by its leader in business. The latest signatory is The Independent. As part of this initiative, we have joined prominent executives such as Arianna Huffington, Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson, pledging to highlight the injustice of the death penalty in our reporting. To do.
