A long-awaited trial was supposed to decide whether Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol was cruel and unusual punishment. But it was rigged from the start.
The rush to execution in Oklahoma comes despite clear evidence that executions have led to unconstitutionally torturous deaths. Autopsies of prisoners put to death with lethal injections including the sedative midazolam are subject to severe pulmonary edema, producing sensations of “doom, panic, drowning, and asphyxiation.”
A federal judge ruled on June 6 Oklahoma could continue its execution protocol, meaning up to 28 inmates may be executed by lethal injection in the next two years.
Autopsies of the four men executed by Oklahoma between October 2021 and February 2022 show that all four prisoners had excess fluid in their lungs, giving…